Spill Containment Berms Are Only The First Line Of Defence Against Pollution

By Joanna Walsh


Everyday, millions of tons of toxins, potentially harmful liquids and other waste are produced, transported and handled. Already the world has suffered terrible damage from the accidental and sometimes even deliberate spillage of these materials. Cleaning up operations are time consuming and expensive. If restrictive measures such as the deployment of spill containment berms are not taken immediately, the pollution can quickly get out of hand.

Any spillage of harmful chemicals constitutes a possible emergency but the first priority is and should always be to first do everything possible to contain the affected area. This is where equipment such as berms are so valuable. They can make sure that the pollution does not spread and it can give cleaning teams time to plan a proper cleaning up strategy.

On the plus side it is necessary to note that not everybody is ignoring the issue. Much research have been done and giant strides have been made in the war against pollution. There are now several artificial agents that can be employed to either neutralize or absorb toxins and pollutants. These agents are very expensive, however, and they are not universally available.

Environmentalists have hailed the development of a new agent that is not only able to absorb a large number of toxins and pollutants, but to actually render them into a brand new substance that is actually useful. This substance is already being used in the manufacture of road surfaces and a number of rubber products. This means that the result of a cleaning operation can be a product that can be sold.

On the downside it is necessary to accept the fact that the very cost of cleaning operations still limits the ability of local authorities to deal with spillages. Trained personnel and the required equipment and chemicals are simply not freely available. This means that many spillages are simply ignored and that only threats in populated areas and other vulnerable sites are deemed important enough for priority action.

Prevention is always the best policy. Although legislation regarding the manufacture, transport and handling of toxins are in place, many experts agree that it is not enough. They want companies that deal with these chemicals to implement and manage detailed policies and plans to make sure that accidental spillage is prevented as far as it is humanly possible.

The cost of cleaning up spillages is not limited to the cost of the actual cleaning up operation. In many cases, the long term cost is almost incalculable. In some cases the natural environment can take many years to recover. There have been cases of generations of people suffering health problems from an incident that occurred years ago and that caused genetic aberrations resulting in horrible human suffering.

No amount of legislation will negate the fact that spillages are bound to occur as long as vast quantities of toxins and pollutants are transported, manufactured and used every day. The very least operators in this industry can do is to make sure that they have equipment to contain pollution as soon as it occurs.




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