Preventing pollution: preventing spills and leaks
Limiting spills and leaks from happening in the first place, and having measures in place to limit the damage if there is a spill or leak.
Questions to ask yourself
- Do you immediately fix any obvious leaks or drafts?
- Have you audited your processes to make sure your inputs and outputs add up?
- Do you use water level controls and splash guards?
- Have you considered installing overflow alarms?
- Have you considered using secondary containment?
Canadian companies preventing pollution
The following examples come from Canadian companies that have reported to the National Pollutant Release Inventory:
- a coating facility purchased chromic acid in solid flake form, thus eliminating the potential for spills of chromic acid
- a fabricated metal manufacturer installed automatic shut-off valves and overflow alarms to ensure that spills are addressed
- a primary metal manufacturer has implemented secondary containment within its operating facility leading to a reduction of waste generated by accidental releases
- a chemical manufacturer updated and field-tested its product loading and handling standard operating procedures to reduce the risk of spills