Big Rapids officials detail how they prevented 18,000 gallon Haworth paint spill from reaching Muskegon River

Published: Wednesday, October 27, 2010, 10:27 PM Updated: Thursday, October 28, 2010, 12:45 AM

Julia Bauer
The Grand Rapids Press

BIG RAPIDS -- Nearly all the 18,000 gallons of black water-based paint that escaped from Haworth Inc. via a city sewer Saturday was diverted into big holding tanks at the Big Rapids sewer treatment plant, officials say.

The accidental release of paint was discovered Saturday night at the steel components plant, 300 N. Bronson Ave.

Share 3 Comments "The paint has been contained in the Big Rapids sewage treatment plant, and 'very, very little' got out of the plant. In fact, our staff says none got in the river," said Mary Detloff, spokesperson for the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Haworth's plant prepares steel parts for a variety of filing cabinets and storage units, and was closed overnight Saturday. It gradually began to resume operations Sunday, as city, state, and company officials launched investigations.

"We think we retained a fairly significant part of that (paint) within the (sewer) plant," said Don Greiner, director of public works for Big Rapids. "We had basins that were empty, so we diverted it into those until we filled them up.

"We went for a 13-hour period, without anything into the river at all."

The 600,000 gallons of storage capacity could handle the flow of paint-tainted sewage, Greiner said. But city and company officials are scrambling to figure out how to dispose of the polluted water.

After a two-hour meeting Wednesday, Haworth environmental engineer Steve Kooy said a decision is near on the right way to handle the tainted water in the city's sewer tanks.

"It's waiting there for us to take care of this," Kooy said. "We'll either send it to a treatment facility or treat it onsite. We want to ensure all the paint solids are taken out, and the rest of water sent through the treatment plant."

Haworth discovered the problem Saturday evening, when an employee checked the plant's paint tank and saw it was lower than it should be. When workers looked inside the paint department's onsite containment tank, they found it empty. Next, they realized the black paint was making its way down the city sewer that empties into the Muskegon River.

Fortunately, Kooy said, the gravity-fed sewer line had a slow flow rate during the weekend spill. When city officials were alerted, they diverted the paint-laden sewage into empty holding tanks at the city facility.

On Wednesday, Haworth was preparing its report on the paint spill for Big Rapids officials, who will submit their own report to the state DNR.

One suspected cause is a drain valve that was stuck open when it should have been closed. Kooy said some plumbing failure is likely to be the origin of the problem. The paint spill at the Big Rapids plant will drive inspections and safety checks at plants around the globe, he said.

In the short term, another concern is rain, Greiner said. With overflow tanks already filled with paint-laced sewage, a heavy rainfall could stress the sewer plant's capacity to fully treat incoming effluent.
"We typically run at about half the plant's rated capacity. If we got a rainfall, depending on its intensity and duration, we would not be able to fully treat the water because we don't have other basins to fall back on," Greiner said.

Worst case? Some sewage would flow out without being fully treated. But none of the paint-polluted storage tanks would be in play, he said.

E-mail Julia Bauer: jbauer@grpress.com and follow her on Twitter at twitter.com/jbauer5800

OSHA News - Company Fined more than $2 Million for Lead Hazards

Shooting range cleanup company fined more than $2 million for overexposing workers to lead


OSHA fined E.N. Range in Miami, Fla., $2,135,000 after the employer failed to protect workers who clean gun ranges from serious overexposure to lead. OSHA inspectors found that E.N. Range had not provided workers proper protective equipment, changing rooms or showering facilities. Air samples taken by OSHA inspectors found that these workers were exposed to lead levels as high as 10 to 19 times the permissible exposure limit. The company also provided workers with non-FDA-approved treatments for lead exposure without required medical supervision, misleading employees--most of whom had limited knowledge of English--into believing they were receiving appropriate medical treatment. OSHA issued E.N. Range more than 50 citations for disregarding workers' health and safety, including 28 citations for multiple egregious violations that include failing to provide workers with properly fitted respirators and control measures to limit workers' exposure to lead, and failing to ensure that workers were given required medical evaluations or blood lead level tests. See the news release for more information.

Lead poisoning can cause many serious health issues including brain damage, paralysis, kidney disease, and even death. Long-term overexposure may result in severe damage to the nervous, urinary, reproductive and blood-forming systems. Visit OSHA's Lead Safety and Health Topics Page for more information.

Check out Summit's training programs on Lead Safety:
Lead Safety
Lead Safety: Uncovering the Dangers

Oil Spill Hits Close to Summit's Home and Michigan Wetlands

On July 26, 2010 an oil pipeline burst spilling over 1 million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River.  The Kalamazoo River flows directly into Lake Michigan.  The pipe, built in 1969, carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.  Obviously, this oil spill isn't to the extreme of what happened with the Deep Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, but this is spill is close to home for Summit.

Residents of the area were evacuated from their homes due to high levels of airborne toxins, including benzene.  Michigan has gorgeous and important (more info below) wetlands that surround our rivers and lakes (we are a peninsula after all, this is pretty close to sea level) where the devastation to plant life and wildlife has been tremendous. 

The organization responsible for the pipeline is a Canadian company called Enbridge Inc.  According to news articles, they were warned by the EPA in January about the state of the pipeline but did not react.  Now they are facing a law suit and possible fines for not reporting the incident in time.  According to reports, the burst was reported at least 4 hours after it occurred.  Companies that fail to notify immediately or exceed the one-hour requirement would face a penalty of $250,000, up from the previous $100,000, and penalties would increase to $2.5 million for companies having multiple related violations.

The EPA estimates it will take months to restore and clean-up the river.  Thousands of animals were harmed it the spill, including Canadian geese, ducks, musk rats, deer, porcupines, and fish.  The photos, similar to the Gulf, are devastating.  Many residents in Michigan utilize well water for their homes and businesses and are dependent on a safe and healthy watershed system.  Our wetlands and marsh areas are critical to the ecology in this State, as they serve as drainage areas for winter snowfall.  Because they occur where the dry land meets the water, wetlands play a critical role in the management of our water based resources.

Acre for acre, wetlands produce more wildlife and plants than any other Michigan habitat type. Wetland species also comprise a critically important segment of these species. For example, Michigan boasts about 2300 native plant species; 50 percent of these are wetland species and over 25 percent of the wetland species are threatened or endangered. More than 40 percent of the 575 vertebrate (with a backbone) wildlife species in Michigan live in or utilize wetlands. This includes 10 to 15 of the 66 mammals, 180 of the 370 birds, 22 of the 28 reptiles, and all of the 23 amphibians.

Here are a few other things that wetlands do:

• reduce flooding by absorbing runoff from rain and melting snow and slowly releasing excess water into rivers and lakes - a one acre swamp when flooded to a depth of one foot contains 330,000 gallons of water
• filter pollutants from surface runoff, trapping fertilizers, pesticides, sediments, and other contaminants and helping to break some of them down into less harmful substances, improving water clarity and quality
• help recharge groundwater supplies when connected to underground aquifers
• contribute to natural nutrient and water cycles, and produce vital atmospheric gases, including oxygen
• provide commercial or recreational value to our human economy, by producing plants, game birds (ducks, geese) and fur bearing mammals - many fish are directly connected to wetlands, requiring shallow water areas for breeding, feeding and escaping from predators
• when wetlands occur adjacent to the Great Lakes, inland lakes or streams, they serve as nutrient traps that then enrich the larger body of water of which they are part

(Source: Michigan Department of Natural Resources www.michigan.gov/dnr)

 

The news of the Kalamazoo River hit the national headlines for about a day or two last week.  For us in Michigan, it is the top story of the day.  For detailed information on the Kalamazoo River oil spill and more photos, visit here.

It is critical that we manage our chemicals and hazardous substances as safely and securely as possible.  The people in the Gulf of Mexico can attest to that, and so can the people of Michigan.

Stay safe.

All photos in this article by Bryan Hornik - Summit General Manager, taken on July 30, 2010.

An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure

I’m sure you’ve heard this one before. Read the paper, watch the news, look around…you will be constantly reminded what a little bit of prevention can do. From small things, like making sure your car has oil, to large things, like using the proper precautions to prevent oil from gushing out of the center of the earth, prevention saves a lot of cost, confusion, frustration and productivity.


In the totally biased opinion of a marketing person working for a safety training company, I know that safety training makes a difference. Sure, it’s important to ensure you are receiving a return on your investment, and most importantly that the training is EFFECTIVE. But can you calculate how many accidents, injuries, or damage to property or equipment you can prevent? Not really, unless you are a safety wizard with a crystal ball (which is sweet and you can stop reading this now). For the rest of us, we have to be cautious, aware and know what to do to prevent the bad stuff from happening in the first place.

I think every training program in the Summit library is important. However, this time of the year, with hurricane season and fire season, and summertime in general, three very important programs come to mind. Bottom line, these should be in your training library.

- Disaster Readiness 

- First –Aid

- Fire Prevention 

Give your workplace a plan for prevention and the know-how to react accordingly in the event of an accident. You can always preview our training programs online for free or request a demo by calling 800.842.0466.

Stay safe;

Sara

The customer is the most important person in our business.

The ASSE Foundation

The ASSE Foundation is an organization that is close to Summit’s heart. Summit, a company involved with the safety industry for almost 30 years, believes strongly in the Foundation’s mission and goals. Less than a decade ago, Summit’s Founder and President Valerie Overheul, was appointed to the ASSE Foundation Board of Trustees. Valerie served on the Board for two terms, and was followed by Bryan Hornik, Summit’s General Manager, who took his position on the Board about a year ago.


Bryan Hornik - Summit General Manager

“I’m pleased to be involved with such a fantastic organization that works to benefit the future of the safety profession. I enjoy working with everyone on the Board of Trustees to reach the goals of the Foundation,” comments Mr. Hornik.

The ASSE Foundation is an extremely important group in our industry. The American Society of Safety Engineers Foundation, established by and in partnership with the American Society of Safety Engineers, generates funding and provides resources for scholarship, applied research, academic accreditation, and related academic initiatives in order to advance the safety, health, and environmental profession (www.asse.org/foundation).

Summit participates in the ASSE Foundation on many levels. Summit is a Champion Corporation Donor, and has committed to this level of sponsorship for the next two years. Summit was also a key sponsor of the ASSE Foundation golf outing, held in conjunction with the ASSE Professional Development Conference, Safety 2010, in Baltimore, MD on June 13, 2010.

I was the lucky person to be in the booth when Foundation Board Vice Chair Fay Feeney stopped by to take a picture to represent being a Foundation donor. However, at Summit we see supporting the Foundation as a team effort and each person here helps to contribute to the future of the safety industry.

Sara Wesche - Summit Marketing Director

At this year's ASSE Conference in Baltimore, MD we were able to meet the student's who received scholarships to pursue their future in safety.  They were so enthusiastic and grateful for the contribution from the Foundation.  It was also exciting for us to see the next generation of safety professionals ready to take on the task of protecting American workers and the communities in which we live and work.
 
A donation to the Foundation is great way to express your commitment to safety and its a donation you can feel good about. 
 
 
Stay safe.
- Sara Wesche

NSC Green Cross Dinner

Summit team members Valerie Overheul – President & CEO, Bryan Hornik – General Manager, and myself, Sara Wesche- Marketing Director, attended the National Safety Council’s Green Cross for Safety Awards dinner in Chicago May 13th. This year’s recipient of the Green Cross medal was Charles “Chip” Pardee, President and Chief Nuclear Officer for Exelon Nuclear.

The black tie event began with a reception at the Navy Pier Terrace Room, which gave attendees the chance to mingle with other safety professionals. A band of bagpipes led the NSC Board of Directors and the representatives from Exelon, including Mr. Pardee, into the Grand Ballroom for the main event.

Janet Froetscher, President & CEO of the National Safety Council, opened the evening with a talk about the mission of the Council and the importance of work place safety. The focus of the speech was distracted driving, one of the Council’s current initiatives. She details the stories of two young boys who were killed in separate accidents due to drivers who were using their cell phones while behind the wheel. The opening segment concluded with a clip from Charlie Morecraft’s, of Remember Charlie, latest video program. The Council’s new whitepaper on distracted driving can be downloaded from their website at www.nsc.org.

Post dinner, the award was presented to Mr. Pardee, who gave an excellent speech which detailed the safety success of his company. Of the many great statistics Mr. Pardee shared, I found the most impactful statement that Excelon Nuclear has never had an on-the-job fatality.

Exelon Nuclear, a business unit of Exelon Corporation, operates the largest nuclear fleet in the nation and the third largest fleet in the world, employing 8,500 people. Headquartered in Warrenville, IL, Exelon Nuclear operates 10 stations with 17 reactors and represents an estimated 20 percent of the U.S. nuclear industry’s power capacity. Over 17 million homes are powered by Exelon Nuclear’s generating units.

The Green Cross dinner is the largest fundraising event for the National Safety Council. This year’s event set a record for attendance, with over 700 people. The dinner concluded on time (maybe even a bit before schedule) at 9pm. It was a well planned and executed event, honoring a top notch safety record to a company who works in a hazardous and important injury.

Rigging: Specialized in Safety

New Video/DVD Rigging: Specialized in Safety from Summit Sets the Focus on Safety for Riggers


Summit’s new Video/DVD training program, Rigging: Specialized in Safety effectively trains riggers on best safety practices to prevent property damage and injuries. Rigging is a specialized skill and it is vital for workers to fully comprehend the forces they’re up against and how to use their equipment effectively so that the job can get done safely.

From equipment maintenance and selection, understanding safe load capacity and wearing the correct PPE to properly moving the load, Summit’s program teaches riggers how to incorporate safety into everything they do. Summit’s attention grabbing program features multiple types of slings and equipment and showcases the various settings where rigging work is performed.

This program covers:

• Slings & equipment selection

• Planning the Lift

• Best Work Practices

Because rigging is more complex than untrained workers may realize, it’s a job that should only be performed by workers who have the appropriate training. Minimize the risk and build the safety skills of workers with Summit’s Rigging: Specialized in Safety training program.

Contact Summit to receive a free preview of any new release by calling 800.842.0466 or visit http://www.safetyontheweb.com/