What is spill containment?
Spill containment is stopping the spread of a spill with appropriate drainage or barriers. The primary goal of spill containment and control is to prevent the absorption of spills and reduce their spread.
Why is spill containment important?
Spill containment is important because allowing spills like chemicals, oil, and sewage to absorb into the surrounding landscape can have drastic, negative effects on the environment and nearby communities. Wildlife, vegetation, land, water supply, and the health and safety of individuals nearby or responsible for spill cleanup are all things impacted when a spill occurs.
Additionally, having a resource spilled is very costly with little to no solutions for salvaging spilled resources.
Spill containment advantages
Installing spill containment barriers prior to a spill provides benefits over utilizing spill clean-up kits or acting responsively.
Eco-Friendly
Deploying spill control barriers as a spill containment method is considered to be more eco-friendly than using spill kits. Absorbent spill kits typically have a small capacity, so more have to be used, and disposal is permanent without options for recycling the kits or the spilled resource.
Additionally, preventatively catching a spill with a spill containment method reduces how far it spreads and the impacts to the surrounding area and environment.
Fast to Construct
Spill control barriers have the ability to be retrofitted to existing drainage systems and in a short period of time – usually just a few hours.
Cost Convenient
Pre-installation of spill containment barriers before a spill occurs can save a lot of time and money. Rather than pay for costly cleanup, preventative containment methods help reduce the spill’s spread as well as cleanup costs.
Types of hazardous spills that require containment
Resources that are recommended to utilize spill control solutions to prevent hazardous spills include:
- Oil
- Chemicals
- Sewage
- Pesticides
Using Trapbags to contain spills in Argentina
The Veladero mine near San Juan run by Barrick Gold, one of the largest gold mines in Argentina, had mining operations suspended in 2016 after ice fell and damaged a pipe carrying cyanide. The chemicals left the leach pad, resulting in a spill.
TrapBag control barriers were utilized to contain the cyanide spill by using 2ft, 4ft, and 6ft TrapBags. After the initial installation of TrapBags to control the chemical spill, an additional, secondary containment barrier was constructed with more TrapBags to extend the entire length of the barrier.
Controlling the chemical spill prevented nearby water sources from contamination and removed the immediate threat from the population.
Preventing and controlling spills in San Juan, Argentina
Future spills can be prevented in San Juan, Argentina with the installation of chemical spill control solutions, including non-absorbent spill barriers and containment systems like TrapBag. Construction of these prevention control barriers on and near worksites is the first step towards reducing spills and their potential effects on nearby surroundings.
Learn more about TrapBag spill control solutions
TrapBags are an ideal solution for spill prevention control and countermeasure. A TrapBag barrier can be deployed rapidly to contain spills faster or assist in extending the logistical time required to remove spills from their contaminated areas. Built with heavy-strength textile with the ability to form strong, sturdy barriers, TrapBags can stand up to the toughest of hazardous spills.
Learn more about using TrapBags for spill control by browsing available products or contacting us today to get started.
