If an area has been affected by pollutants and/or chemicals that are hazardous to the environment, cleanup will be required. But if you’ve never tackled an environmental cleanup project, you might not know how to approach this situation.
If you are in this position, keep reading.
This post will act as an introductory guide that will help you learn more about dealing with an environmental cleanup project. By the time you’re finished, you’ll understand what it takes to handle this kind of project, without making any mistakes.
Let’s begin!
Gather as Much Information as You Can
The first thing you need to do is gather as much information you can, about what has happened.
You need to figure out what kind of pollutants/chemicals are affecting the environment. For instance, is there an oil spill? Is there Asbestos being released into the atmosphere? Are there issues regarding automotive spills contaminating local bodies/streams of water?
You also need to see if you can pinpoint the source of the issue. Are hazardous chemicals coming from a septic tank? Your heating system?
It is fair to say that gather all this information is not always easy to do. Your ability to do this will depend on how much you know about the situation in the first place. But if you can gather a lot of data, that helps illustrate what has happened/what is involved, it will help in the later stages.
It’s also worth mentioning that you should practice some caution when doing this. For example, if you find a puddle of gasoline, you do not want to spend too much time breathing it in. This can cause health problems for you personally.
Importance of Timing
Timing plays a big factor when it comes to dealing with an environmental cleanup project. The longer you leave things, the more difficult it will be to effectively clean the local area. There are a number of reasons for this. The negative impact of waiting will vary, depending on the situation at hand.
In some instances, waiting can mean that the soil is going to become more and more contaminated. In other instances, it might mean that more wildlife will be harmed. You need to work quickly and contact the relevant authorities as soon as possible. This will help keep the amount of damage under control.
It’s also worth mentioning that the longer you leave things, the more work that might be involved. As mentioned, your soil might become contaminated. But if you leave things too long, it might mean that you need to have a lot of soil removed from your premises. It might even mean that part of your premises is going to be restricted.
Hire Professional Help
Once you’re aware that there is a problem, you then need to think about hiring notifying your local authorities and hiring professional help. A professional will be able to decide what the best course of action is, in regards to cleaning up the issue.
In a situation related to environmental cleanup, you will likely need to hire someone known as a Licensed Site Professional (LSP). This individual will have the knowledge needed to deal with an environmental issue. They will take a look at your situation and then tell you what you need to do in order to fix it.
Once the cleanup project is completed the LSP will then submit a document, that notifies the local authorities. This document will detail that your cleanup has met the standards required. They will also know whether or not you will need to seek out some larger authorities, in relation to your environmental cleanup project.
An LSP generally does not perform the cleanup required.
But they will be able to tell you what can be done to solve the issue, in the most affordable manner. They might tell you what kind of company you need to hire, to tackle the cleanup process. If you’d like to learn more about the cleanup process for an environmental issue, you can read more here.
Check Your Insurance
In some instances, your environmental cleanup project might be covered by your insurance policy. This is not always the case, but it is worth checking before you fork out for any cleanup services.
Of course, even if you have already paid, you might still be able to receive some kind of reimbursement. You will just need to check with the insurance company, though, to see if this is the case.
If they do not provide you with cover, you might want to change your plan. This will help you obtain cover, should something similar happen again.
Decide How You Can Stop the Issue from Happening Again
If you are going to start an environmental cleanup project, you need to put some thought into how you are going to stop the problem from happening again. It is not good cleaning up the mess, only to end up having to go through the cleanup process again in the future.
The company that is helping you with the cleanup process should be able to provide you with some recommendations, based on what you need to do. These recommendations might cost you some more money. But you should remember that following these tips, will reduce the odds of you needing to hire a cleanup crew again.
Time for an Environmental Cleanup Project?
An environmental cleanup project can help rescue an area from hazardous chemicals or pollutants.
In this guide, we’ve taken a look at what you need to think about if you are approaching a scenario that might need environmental cleanup. You need to gather the facts. You also need to hire an expert to assess what needs to be done to fix the issue.
It is important you act quickly. If you do not appreciate the importance of timing, you run the risk of allowing things to become even worse.
Want to learn more about how you can help the environment? Check out our eco-friendly section to learn more.
