Emergency Spill Response

Emergency Spill Response

ERI has been the hazardous materials manager and emergency response provider for the City of Phoenix for over 7 years. The contract has lead us to every alley way and intersection in Phoenix managing everything from latex paint to hazardous oil. ERI has established a dedicated group of environmental professionals who are available to the City 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.


ERI was dispatched at 6:30 p.m. The primary concern was that multiple automobile accidents had occurred from approximately 500 gallons of cooking grease that had overflowed from the restaurant and run down a parking lot into the street. Cars were not able to stop because of the grease.

Upon arrival, the ERI crew cordoned off the 20ā€™ x 400ā€™ area around the spill and used squeegees to direct the grease toward a vacuum truck, which then contained the grease. Once ERI was finished getting the bulk of the grease liquids into the vacuum truck, a pressure washing company applied a citric cleaner to cut the grease. The parking lot and the street were pressure washed while the ERI crew followed behind and squeegeed the water to the vacuum truck for final clean up f the area. By 11:00 pm, the road was reopened and the ERI crews had departed the area.


ERI was dispatched to an emergency located at a City of Phoenix Fire Station. At 5:00 pm ERI received a call stating that a tote carrying approximately 30-50 gallons of Aqueous Fire Fighting Foam had failed. The liquid had gone into the drains and had been flushed into the oil water separator just south of the station. A supervisor was immediately dispatched to the scene while additional personnel were dispatched to the ERI warehouse for supplies. By 6:00 pm ERI had arrived on site and had been told that there had been a small spill so the department had flushed roughly 2000 gallons of water down the drain. At 7:00 pm a vacuum truck was dispatched to the scene to remove the liquids from the oil water separators. The first of the three oil water separators was pumped and rinsed at 9:00 pm. The third and final separator was pumped out and rinsed at 10:00 pm.


A hose on top of a City of Phoenix tank located at the Water Treatment Plant had ruptured and sprayed caustic liquids (sodium hydroxide solution) down the sides of the tank into the containment. Once the tanks were confirmed, ERI neutralized and pressure washed the tank and containment. ERI placed plastic on the ground near the pumps and hoses as a precautionary layer of protection. Liquids were transferred from the tank to an adjacent 20,000-gallon temporary tank. Once the product was pumped out, ERI opened the side cover and set up confined space equipment; ERI crews entered the tank wearing Level ā€œCā€ PPE to neutralize and clean the tank.

Our commitment:

Stewardship

We will serve our fellow employees, our customers, and our community by consistently building long-term value.

Integrity

In all we do, we will be ethical, honest, and forthright.

Safety

Safety is an absolute for employees, for subcontractors, and for the communities where we operate.

Accountability

We expect to be judged by the successful execution of our commitments.

Excellence

We will prevail by setting and meeting the highest standards.