BERM was retained by a consulting organization whose customer recently received a warning from the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) for improperly storing hundreds of 5 gallon pails containing unknown liquids and solids believed to be corrosive oxidizers used for water treatment. The pails had been staged outside, exposed to the elements for several years leading to the degradation of the plastic, which resulted in the leaking of several dozen containers. The BERM team spent several days on site segregating the containers into compatible groups while performing on site chemical screening to determine proper DOT packaging. Dozens of liquid pails were poured and consolidated into 55-gallon drums, and dozens of pails containing solids were placed into cubic yard boxes. Upon completion of the segregation process, BERM utilized a skid steer to remove contaminated soil and debris from the staging area which was transferred to a provided permitted roll-off container. Samples of all waste were delivered to a certified laboratory with an accompanying chain of custody for waste characterization analysis, and the subsequent lab results determined the proper waste disposition. BERM also assisted the customer with an SDS search of the material after a few pails were found to have somewhat legible product labels still intact. Upon completion of site corrective actions, all waste was transported to a permitted Part B Hazardous Waste facility (TSDF) for disposal. The completed remediation resulted in the avoidance of any fines to the customer, and the spill file was closed to the satisfaction of the MDE.
