As a contractor or construction company, you may have had to get a construction stormwater general permit for a job that had potential to impact local water sources in Utah. A construction stormwater general permit requires you to develop a SWPPP, or stormwater pollution prevention plan. Part of your SWPPP includes developing a spill response plan. Silver Leaf SWPPP can help you create and implement a spill response plan so that you remain complaint with local, state and federal SWPPP rules.
Many people who are familiar with SWPPP think of it as synonymous with erosion control. This makes sense, because erosion control solutions such as erosion wattles, silt fences and hydroseeding are often part of a SWPPP. These erosion control solutions help prevent soil and silt runoff from construction sites, which may carry contaminants such as trash or gasoline. But SWPPP plans are more than erosion control.
Construction sites are replete with potentially caustic contaminants, including vehicle fluids such as oil or coolant, concrete, joint compound, paint products, herbicides and more. Even wood and metal can be considered contaminants, although they would likely not be spilled.
A spill is an accident, and that means it’s unexpected. At the same time, however, you must plan ahead for the unexpected. If the U.S. had had spill response plans in place when the Exxon Valdez ran aground, the 10.8 million gallons of oil that spilled into Prince William Sound would not have killed hundreds of thousands of birds, otters and seals and done $300 million in damages.
As part of your spill response plan, we will ask you to designate specific employees who will respond when a spill occurs. You don’t want to wait until a spill happens to wonder who you should call to remedy the situation.
However, these employees should be properly trained in the best practices for responding to spills of fluids routinely used at construction sites. They should also frequently check to make sure these materials are being stored and handled properly, to help mitigate risk. This may include posting signage about how to handle materials.
You may also be required to keep spill response equipment on hand such as sorbents, gloves, bags, etc., or designate a predetermined source for these tools.
We will help you with your spill response plan by drawing up spill response procedures and outlining procedures for how to create a spill response report after the fact.
Creating, filing and staying up to date with your SWPPP can be challenging. SWPPPs are complicated, and a simple mistake can end up costing you thousands in fines. Work with Silver Leaf SWPPP on all your SWPPP plans, including spill response plans.
