Highway Spills — Contingency Planning Helps Minimize
Highway accidents involving tractor-trailer trucks and other large commercial vehicles can produce serious environmental consequences when tanks rupture, allowing diesel fuel and other hazardous materials to spill. By law, the spill generator is liable for environmental damages resulting from the incident, regardless of who is at fault. Penalties for failure to report spills are stiff and enforcement of environmental laws by county, state and federal authorities is on the rise. Failure to give immediate telephone notice of a hazmat incident carries a base fine of $3,000. The base fine for failing to file a federal incident report within 30 days of an unintentional release of hazardous materials can be as much as $2,500. The trucking industry is on notice to minimize the effects of its operations on the environment.
As a result, more and more carriers are taking steps to prepare for spills before they occur. Measures include training drivers in spill containment and equipping trucks with portable spill kits that contain tools, sorbent materials, and plugs to stop leaks. Many fleet managers have prepared highly detailed spill contingency plans to be followed in the event of a spill emergency.
The best contingency plan includes phone numbers of regulatory authorities and qualified cleanup contractors as well as environmental reporting regulations for each jurisdiction in which the company’s trucks operate. It should also contain staff assignments and other key information needed to respond efficiently in the event of a spill, whenever and wherever it occurs. Appropriate response options should be listed for every activity that has the potential to generate a spill, including loading and unloading, transporting and storing goods.
Consider All Eventualities
Because of the issue of liability and the potential for third-party litigation, carriers have instructed their drivers to document every spill as to quantity of material released, efforts taken to contain it, calls made to report the incident, and work performed by emergency responders at the scene.
The time when firefighters arrived on the scene and simply hosed down the accident site are long gone. Now specialized hazmat teams are more likely to show up in full protective gear to handle even routine spills.
Fleets realize that all efforts to minimize harm to the environment are in their own interest because of their liability as the spill generator. Drivers are often taught that it is best to report spills that may not even constitute a reportable quantity under local environmental regulations. Reportable amounts vary from one jurisdiction to the next, and carriers would rather be safe than sorry.
One fleet was fined $75,000 by the N.J. Dept. of Environmental Protection for failure to report a diesel fuel spill of 30 gallons, a reportable quantity in New Jersey. The truck had swerved to avoid hitting a car and scraped its fuel tank against a guard rail, which caused the leak.
The driver stopped the flow from the tank and notified the carrier, which filed a complete report with the N.J. State Police. The fine came from the company’s failure to comply with the state’s environmental reporting requirement, which the police had not mentioned. Ignorance of the law is no defense.
Management of regulated fluids is one of the major challenges facing fleets today. Contingency planning involves having resources in place to quickly contain any environmental releases of hazardous materials as soon as they occur. And the spill generator’s legal responsibility does not end when a disposal company cleans up the spill; the fleet must ensure that the wastes are taken to an authorized disposal site.
Staying abreast of the environmental regulations has become an important aspect of trucking today. Spill preparedness is part of the cost of doing business. Few fleets take their environmental responsibility lightly. No one in the trucking industry can afford to have that kind of attitude.
