ESI Conducts Emergency Response Drill

Recently, ESI conducted an emergency response drill requiring technicians to identify, prepare, and overpack some badly damaged drums. Project managers and safety personnel directed operations and chose the appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) to be used during the drill. Technicians conducted entry and back-up, equipment operation, drum patching, overpacking, and decontamination. Initial entry operations were conducted in EPA Level A, PPE, with subsequent entries and decontamination procedures completed in EPA Level B, PPE.

The drill provided excellent practice, and a chance for all personnel to work together on a single project. It was also a great opportunity for our new personnel to see how an emergency response comes together.

TRAINING CONTINUES

Environmental Solutions, Inc. continues to keep its personnel trained and certified. Recently 40 Hour OSHA 29CFR 1910.120 HAZWOPER courses were completed by two new ESI personnel. Other ESI HAZMAT Technicians completed 8 Hour HAZWOPER refresher courses earlier this year. Specialists from Viech Training of Edwards, California were flown to Omaha to provide the extensive training. ESI continues its commitment to having highly trained and certified personnel ready to work for you.

ESI Completes Difficult UST Removal

Most underground storage tanks (UST) can be removed with common tank excavation techniques. Sometimes however, the UST requires a bit more than common techniques. ESI has to utilize some special excavation skills in order to remove a UST in Omaha recently.

ESI was called in after the original contractor ruptured a 2" high pressure natural gas line which ran along side the vertically installed UST. The gas line rupture caused the evacuation of a large part of downtown Omaha.

The unusual vertical orientation, and proximity to the gas line were not the only troubles encountered with this particular tank. The tank was also dangerously close to a building and an underground utility vault. In addition to the difficulties posed by nearby obstruction, the entire tank was encased in a steel covered concrete jacket, which made extraction of the tank much more difficult. Nevertheless, after careful planning and some delicate excavation work, ESI was able to free the large tank without further incident.

Once the tank was pulled out it was placed on the ground for inspection by the Omaha Fire Department and City of Omaha Permits and Inspections personnel. After completion of all testing and inspection, the tank was loaded up for cleaning and final destruction. The backfilling and soil compaction was handled by another contractor.

New LEL Meter Important Safety Tool

Confined space entry is one of the most dangerous situations encountered by ESI technicians. Proper air sampling, and monitoring, are essential to insuring the safety of everyone working in, or near, an explosive, or possibly toxic area. ESI recently purchased a new type of LEL meter which will greatly increase our margin of safety.

What is LEL? Put simply, LEL is the Lower Explosive Limit, or the lowest concentration of a flammable gas or vapor, in air, that can be ignited and sustain combustion. UEL, on the other hand, is the Upper Explosive Limit, or the maximum concentration of a flammable gas or vapor, in air, which will sustain combustion. Meter readings between the LEL and UEL are considered the flammable range of the material.

The new meter is not only capable of monitoring the LEL of combustible gases, but also registers concentrations of Oxygen, and deadly gases such as Carbon Monoxide and Hydrogen Sulfide. The information provided by the LEL meter will definitely reduce many of the dangers our technicians face during confined space entry. ESI is proud to announce the addition of the MSA Passport LEL meter to our emergency response equipment inventory.

CHALLENGE FOR CHARITY

Not long ago, John Sempeck, emergency response coordinator for ESI, put forth a challenge. His call was answered by sports reporter Jon Schuetz of KETV Channel 7 in Omaha. Jon Schuetz accepts various challenges on a special news spot called, "I Challenge Jon."

The challenge was for John Sempeck and Jon Schuetz to don EPA Level A suits and SCBA tanks, then complete a moderate obstacle course which tested dexterity and slight physical exertion. The winner was the man with the most air left in his tank at the end of the course.

Jon Schuetz proved to be an exceptional challenger and did quite well on all the obstacles. He also had the most air left in his tank. Although, we found later that Sempecks tank had been slightly drained from the start to make it more difficult for him (at least thats his explanation).

The real winner of the challenge was the American Cancer Society which received a $77 dollar donation from KETV and a matching donation of $77 dollars from ESI. ESI and John Sempeck would like to thank KETV Channel 7 and Jon Schuetz for accepting our challenge.