As you would expect, the US Administration takes oil spillages very seriously and relevant companies are advised to create a Spill Prevention Control & Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. This plan details how you intend to prevent the discharge of oil into waterways and the facilities that are required to compile and store an SPCC plan include the following;
- Facilities that store any form of oil or oil products.
- Facilities that store more than 1,300 US gallons of oil or oil products above ground in tanks.
- Facilities that store up to 42,000 gallons in buried containers.
- Any facility that might be liable to discharge waste into a waterway.
Oil Spillage Prevention
There is a range of oil skimming equipment that can be used to prevent surface oil products from being discharged into a nearby waterway, which include the following:
- Automatic floating skimmer
- Manual rotary pipe skimmer
Both of these systems come in a wide range of sizes, with adjustable weir height, stable floatation and spill prevention systems that send the surface oil product into a special storage tank. With the right oil stop valves from a leading Florida based specialist, you can contain the oil, while allowing the water to run off. This is not something you can afford to overlook, as the penalties for an oil spill are extremely high and the best way to ensure compliance is to enlist the help of a leading US supplier of oil-water separation systems.
Oil Storage Capacity
If the oil storage capacity at your facility exceeds 10,000 US gallons, you will need an engineer to certify your SPCC Plan. If the storage capacity is less than 10,000 gallons, you do not have to file your plan with the EPA, although you still need to have one in place, which must always be stored at the facility, in case of a spillage. Here are a few ways that you can bring sustainability into your life.
Survey the Area
Your facility is likely to be near waterways and you need an engineer to assess the risk of spillage, taking into account all possible weather conditions, especially flooding, which could cause a spillage due to rising water levels. Every possibility needs to be looked at by a professional team of environmental engineers and this will ensure that you have an effective SPCC Plan in place; here is some very detailed information from the Environmental Protection Agency regarding oil spillage. This survey should explore the potential amount of oil that could be spilled and where that oil would go (looking closely at all waterways, including dikes, streams and ditches).
Oil-Water Separators
These amazing systems separate surface oil products from water and there are different types, depending on the terrain and the site. If you would like to learn more about oil-water separators, search online for a leading supplier of oil spill prevention systems and let the experts help you create an SPCC Plan.