Sunday, 15 September 2013

Usefulness Of Spill Containment Berms

By Dawn Williams


News regarding oil spills have flooded broadcasting networks and daily spreadsheets. Petroleum spillage cause various harmful effects to aquatic resources and life forms, as well as, to people and animals on land. The world operates in a chain and damage to marine habitats radiates to the rest of the members of the link. To contain this destructive condition, there are ways that have been used which include the utilization of spill containment berms.

There are a lot of oil spill disasters recorded in history. The worst of them has affected the lives of millions of people. It has caused fires and infiltrated water beds thereby contaminating the water supply. It has also caused diseases such as skin and respiratory problems. Animals have been forced out of their natural habitats which caused a great disruption of the ecosystem. There are cases that management of overflows has taken years and decades.

A process that prevents the worsening or amplification of undesirable things is termed as containment. It is a strategy used by fuel and fluid processing industries to ensure that harmful substances does not affect natural resources. In the field of health and medicine, it is an action taken to minimize the spread of infection.

Many oil spill responses have been formulated to counter the negative effects done by spillovers to the environment and the living organisms. They can be in forms of mechanical, chemical, biological and physical strategies. Scare tactics are utilized to ward off animals from affected places.

One type of mechanical approach to containing harmful liquids is berming. It involves the utilization of containment berms. They are usually a form of barrier that limits the flow of adverse substances towards uncontaminated areas. The use of the berming process can be traced back in the nineteen hundreds. They are designed either to contain an entire overflow or to provide routes to a a collection basin.

A limiting berm comes in different types. It can be small and portable for emergency type usage caused by leaks from small containers and drums. It can also be assembled like the L bracket . On the other hand, it may not also require assembling. This no assemble kind automatically forms a catch basin whenever spills occur. The use of a collection basin is utilized for the elimination of leaked material.

Berming has benefits. It provides a faster way to limit spills as it can be easily set up. It can also cater to any many types of overflows because it comes in varied forms and sizes. Many oil firms use this method as an emergency protocol. It is more effective in preventing contamination of surface waters and sewer systems. There are also times that the leaked material can be reused depending on the amount of foreign substances present on the matter.

Like other processes, berming also has disadvantages. Extremely large affected area limits the ability of the berm to contain substances. More often, it also needs the help of other processes like chemical and biological ones to effectively and fully manage disastrous effects. This will entail a higher budget allocation.

Spill containment berms and other substance limiting strategies have been developed and improved through time. As a concerned individual, you can also participate in preventing larger consequences of oil spills from happening. Earth is the only known home to men. Protecting and preserving it is the responsibility of every living person. Taking a stand to for the well being of the environment is never too late.




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