ËÄ»¢Ó°Ôº

Summary

In June of 2017, ËÄ»¢Ó°Ôºwas hired by the US Coast Guard to perform removal of hazardous materials from all vessels on the Goble Landing project site. Pre-planning related to this project allowed quick mobilization of approximately 15 hazardous materials response personnel to concurrently perform a number of related tasks, including:

• Mobilization of a portable boiler to the site on a barge to heat semi-solid Bunker oil for pumping
• Mobilization of a vacuum trailer to the site on a second barge to assist in pumping bulk fuel from vessel fuel tanks
• Mobilization of a portable laboratory to process environmental samples
• Assessment of all vessels to determine the presence of hazardous materials
• Sampling of all fuels for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) using the portable laboratory
• Pumping of approximately 45,000 gallons of fuel and oily water from vessel fuel tanks with segregation of PCB-contaminated and non-PCB-contaminated fuels in separate tanks
• Collection, characterization, inventory, packaging and disposal of approximately 1 ton of hazardous waste from each vessel or barge, including paint, solvents, cleaners, coolants, poisons
• Flaring of 14 propane or refrigerant tank or cylinders

ËÄ»¢Ó°Ôºperformed all of the above tasks within a nine-day project window, working long days and through weekends to minimize the oversight needed. Despite the compressed timeframe, ËÄ»¢Ó°Ôºwork activities were completed with no incidents or safety issues in a timely and cost-effective manner. A site-specific Health and Safety Plan was drafted in advance of site activities to meet the requirements of the US Coast Guard Strike Team providing oversight of the project. A dedicated Health and Safety professional was present during all on-site work to manage risk in a changing and poorly characterized marine work environment.

This project was supported using a number of workboats (minimum of three on site at all times), a tug boat, one small barge (40’ x 16’), and two large barges (approximately 150’ x 50’). These assets provided the area for working space, break areas, a command post, temporary storage tanks and the portable boiler. ËÄ»¢Ó°Ôºvessel operators and deckhands were primarily local to the Goble area and intimately familiar with the river conditions and vessels encountered and the activities performed.

Highlights

• Hazardous materials assessment and on-site testing of samples with portable laboratory.
• Vacuum pumping of ~45,000-gallons of fuel and oily water from vessel fuel tanks.
• Segregation, collection, characterization, packaging and disposal of multiple hazardous waste streams.
• Work successfully performed within compressed project schedule without incident.