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How Low Can You Go?
Love Canal was a blessing
in disguise. While the vision of a toxic waste drum bubbling
up in one’s front yard is nothing to behold, this environmental
disaster has proven to be a watershed event. This singular event
sparked immediate public outcry, causing government, industry
and the public in general to finally take charge of the future
of our environment.
Almost overnight, a steel drum with a red "x" through
it became the recognized symbol of the dangers of chemical wastes.
Since the early 1980’s, entrepreneurs and inventors have
been developing new products and technologies to better manage
chemical drums, and tanks and to decrease inherent risks.
The "environmental containment products" market was
spawned in the mid-1980’s with the introduction of the
first polyethylene "spill pallets". These portable
devices were designed to capture leaks or overspills from drums,
without sacrificing the basic material handling capabilities
of wooden pallets. Several 4 and 2-drum models were developed,
each with a height of approximately 17 inches. These units sold
very well, as they met an immediate need. |
Why Low Profile? |
| Within a few short years, DOD and
industrial users realized that the 17" height of spill
pallets had significant design flaws. The tall nature of the
spill pallets dictated that drum-top funnels would be positioned
at or near eye level. |
Pouring waste fluid into funnels
therefore represented a significant safety and ergonomic concern.
Holding a 40 pound bucket above shoulder height and avoiding
face splashing of chemicals was a difficult trick. The push
to develop more "user friendly" containment devices
was on.
"We began tracking market needs in the containment
products sector in 1988, the same year we offered our first
spill pallet" says Frank Forney, Storage and Handling Products
Team Leader at New Pig Corp. (Tipton, PA).
"We received
customer feedback beginning in 1991 that a lower profile was
desired for a multitude of reasons. These included eliminating
the risks associated with someone falling off of the spill pallets
while performing waste decanting tasks, and general convenience
needs to improve drum management programs." |
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Regulatory Requirements |
The primary regulation covering containment is
EPA 40 CFR 264.175. This regulation requires that "the
containment system must have sufficient capacity to contain
10% of the volume of containers or the volume of the largest
container, whichever is greater". In most operations, a
small number (less than ten) of 55-gallon drums are being stored
in any one area. Therefore, our federal government would require
a minimum of 55 gallons of containment in a product such as
a spill pallet. The Uniform Fire Code (UFC) goes one step farther
than EPA, requiring 66 gallons of containment in the sump area.
The containment capacities mandated by EPA and UFC required
that the early 4 and 2-drum pallets be designed with such an
excessive height. There seemed to be no way around the tall
designs. |
Creative Solutions |
Negative market feedback related to the tall designs
energized containment product suppliers to focus on designing
new products with lower profiles. Companies such as Lab Safety
Supply (Janesville, WI) and New Pig Corp. introduced 4-drum
spill pallets with heights ranging from 10" to 12".
These products represented a significant improvement over first
generation products - lowering accident and injury risk while
adding convenience to waste management operations.
While users were happier with the new generation pallets, the
real need of the market soon became apparent. Facilities were
accustomed to the 5" – 6" height inherent to
wooden pallets. Containment products which mirrored the height
of wooden pallets would solve problems associated with higher
profile products. The design goal was simple: develop containment
products which featured the same height as wooden pallets. |
How Low Have They Gone? |
Within the last 2 – 3 years, companies
such as Eagle Manufacturing Company (Wellsburg, WV) have introduced
low profile 6 and 8-drum containment units which feature a
6.5" height. These products meet the needs of customers
with a relatively large number of drums in any one area. Because
the footprint of these containment units is much larger than
4-drum pallets, a significantly greater amount of containment
capacity is available to meet regulatory requirements.
The challenge still remained for users with a small number
of drums (i.e. 1 – 5 quantity) to be contained in an
area. How can a low profile, small footprint containment device
have 66 gallons of capacity? The answer required some creative
thinking.
UltraTech International, Inc. recently introduced a line of
spill decks which incorporate a "hidden containment bladder"
in their design. These units are available in 1, 2, 3 and
4-drum models. A "bladder attachment" houses the
containment bladder which automatically unfurls to capture
catastrophic leaks. The 5.75" height meets the goal of
matching the height of a wooden pallet, while the small footprint
meets the needs of those users with a small number of drums
to be stored in a limited-space area. As an added benefit,
these models can be linked together with bulkhead fittings
to create custom sized containment decks to accommodate any
number of drums.
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Cost Savings |
Low profile containment products offer various
direct and indirect cost savings. Because shorter units use
less polyethylene resin during the manufacturing process, material
cost savings can be passed on to the end user.
Indirect cost savings are plentiful. Fewer claims related to
worker safety are an outgrowth of the fact that buckets no longer
need to be held at or above eye level to decant wastes. Spill
incidents decrease as drum handling is made safer. Loading and
unloading drums is made more convenient. The potential for drums
to topple off of a tall platform as with first generation containment
products has been eliminated. In remote areas where powered
lifting equipment is not available, drums can be "jockeyed"
on and off low profile decks without heavy equipment. Several
workers trying to lift a drum of waste from a 17" platform
and the associated injury risks have become a thing of the past.
The evolution of low profile containment products has offered
significant benefits to facilities involved in waste collection
and storage. Joe Eddy of Eagle Manufacturing notes, "We
see the low-profile spill containment platform design as a result
of the change from a regulatory compliance driven market, to
a customer "needs and desires" driven market. The
customer benefits from this evolution with product improvements
such as higher stability, larger load capacities, increased
utilization and most importantly, lower cost." |
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