Spill Causes Dangerous Street Conditions

ESI was called out to a waste oil spill on Omaha city streets. An underground storage tank which has just been removed from a local business was being transported across town when the waste oil spilled on to the street. This caused the streets to become dangerously slick, creating conditions similar to "black ice". The remaining oil and sludge had not been pumped from the tank prior to transportation. ESI project manager, Charlie Ewin, arrived on site with a crew and began the clean-up process.

The area was first secured with barricades to relieve the Omaha Police and Omaha Fire Departments. After donning the correct PPE (personal protection equipment) ESI crews started applying "Solid-A-Sorb" sorbent to the oiled streets. After a few applications, the sorbent was drummed for disposal at a state approved facility. The streets were reopened only after the City of Omaha deemed the road safe for automobile transportation.

ESI Conducts First Aid, CPR and Exposure Control Course

Recently, ESI conducted a First Aid and CPR course. The Red Cross, Heartland Chapter put on an excellent presentation and the class of ESI project managers, technicians and office personnel enjoyed the course. ESI feels that it is extremely important to update as many employees as possible in basic life-saving procedures. ESI will continue to conduct this class periodically to accommodate new personnel and give employees who missed a chance to update their skills.

I-80 Hazmat Fire/Spill

A fire of unknown origin started in the pup trailer of a tractor/trailer traveling on I-80 near Odessa, NE (9 miles west of Kearney). ESI was called to respond to the clean-up due to the content of the trailer. Besides general commodities, the trailer also contained Sodium Chlorate and Phosphoric Acid. John Sempeck, ESI Hazmat Coordinator, was first to arrive on site and began the clean-up process. ESI determined the fastest and safest method of clean-up was to move the trailer from the I-80 shoulder to a nearby ditch. Before moving the trailer however, ESI used the heavy equipment they had brought on site to make dirt containment berms. These berms would contain in one place, any contaminated liquids left from the fire. ESI then used a skidsteer to load the burned debris into overpacked drums for disposal. The total clean-up process was completed in 20 hours.

Contaminated liquids leaked into the ground resulting in soil remediation along
with the debris clean up from the fire.