Emergency Spill Response

About this Project

Our team provided emergency response support services along the Kalamazoo River to aid in a massive oil cleanup effort.

In 2010, a pipeline burst into a creek creating one of the largest inland oil spills (nearly one million gallons) in the history of the midwest. Not only were there challenges containing and cleaning up the leaked oil, but the spill also brought considerable concern for the safety of native wildlife inhabiting Marshall, Michigan and the surrounding areas.

By deploying our environmental, industrial hygiene, health and safety, survey, and technical support teams, we successfully delivered a wide breadth of services.

Environmental and industrial hygiene services

Managing wildlife response center and deploying and maintaining wildlife deterrent measures
Deploying field teams to complete overbank assessments using Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique (SCAT) and modified reassessment techniques known as Shoreline and Overbank Reassessment Techniques (SORT)
Applying for permits
Groundwater monitoring and sampling
Sediment assessments using poling techniques
Developing, managing, and conducting a comprehensive sediment coring and sampling program
Community and work area air monitoring and sampling

Health and safety services

Staffing the Health and Safety Officer in an Incident Command System (ICS) organization
Administering safety inspections at multiple, concurrently operating worksites
Providing safety incident investigation with root cause analysis
Collecting and analyzing project-specific safety metrics
Directly communicating with government agencies
Overseeing dredging activities
Construction oversight during emergency response, remediation, and restoration

Geolocation and survey services

GPS surveys, to assist the Right of Way department in documenting locations of emergency response activities
Misc. location documentation
- Locations and quantity of response equipment
- Portable well and surface water sample locations
- Areas impacted by emergency response activities
Image rectification of photographs collected along a 40 mile segment of the Kalamazoo River
Assisting with locating potential pipeline dig sites
Bathymetric surveys

Technical support services

Developing work plans, response plans, and reports per United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE), formerly Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, regulations
Managing dredging contractors
Providing administrative support for multiple subcontractors