Whenever there is a traffic incident, the safety of responders, victims of the incident, motorists, and the environment from the hazardous material spilt has to be the pressing concern. But why is traffic incident management and managing hazardous material spills so important? It’s simply because, by properly managing hazardous material spills, you will not only improve the safety of the responding personnel, but also minimize the possibilities of a secondary crash!

So as a responder what should you do as soon as you come across a traffic incident? You should first begin assessing the field conditions so as to determine what kind of actions would be required. It is also absolutely essential that you check the incident location for the presence of any potentially harmful materials. Do you think just identifying is sufficient? Definitely no! Once you identify that there is an oil spill or any other hazardous spill, you should immediately look at the alleviation measures to remove the possible threat. You might come across anything from vehicle fluids to cargo contents that are being transported.

The key to successfully remove a hazardous spill is to acquire adequate knowledge about the safety, clean-up, and disposal guidelines. Knowing these guidelines would help eradicate the threat effectively. But, beware of any water sources that may be nearby the area of incidence. Responders should also make a note of the vehicle type or the labeling as they would help the personnel to determine the amount and type of the material spill. In case it’s a cargo oil spill, then the responders can make use of the hazardous material placards to assess the incident.

Larger oil spills or engine fluids are exempted by few states, provided the oil spill has been contained on the pavement. For effective oil spill cleanup, responders can resort to environmental friendly solutions, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200. Oil Gone Easy S-200 acts as a bioremediation accelerator and an agglomerator, which bonds to oil and breaks it into water and carbon dioxide.

Water pollution is the contamination or adulteration of the water bodies, such as rivers, lakes, seas, oceans, and ground water by number of human activities. Since water is essential for all our basic needs, water pollution is a threat to us. Many communicable diseases spread through unclean water, which even results in death.

Although there are different factors that contribute to water pollution, listed below are the most dangerous causes of water pollution.

• Factories and nuclear plants play a major role in polluting the water. Wastes from factories include toxins, such as lead, mercury, and other contaminants. These chemicals are very harmful and can lead to serious health hazards.

• Nonpoint sources are one of the major causes of water pollution. Oil spills from cars, trucks, and other vehicles on land get mixed with rainwater and runoff into streams and lakes polluting them. These nonpoint sources are very difficult to monitor and control, so it falls on each individual to make sure that their vehicles used does not in any way contribute to further pollution. Proper maintenance of vehicles and oil spill cleanup using eco-friendly products, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 will help to a great extent.

• Fertilizers and pesticides used in agricultural farms, homeowners lawns, and roadsides are a threat to the natural water source. When runoff into local streams or rivers or when drained down into groundwater, they contaminate the water completely.

• Mining is another major reason for water pollution. Heavy metals and sulfur components which are buried in the earth are exposed during mining and during rainfall these toxic chemicals are exposed, which ultimately result in “acid rain drainage”

• Surprising though it may seem, air pollution is also a cause of water pollution. Pollutants, such as sulfur dioxide, nitric acid, and mercury, when deposited out of air results in nutrient pollution and acidification of lakes.

Oil spills not only affect environmentally but also economically. The economic impacts are directly or indirectly related to the environmental impacts of oil spills. But, the economic impacts of oil spills are not much talked about as the environmental impacts are.

The most direct economic impact of oil spills is the loss of oil. The losses incurred depend on the size of the spill; the bigger the spill, the higher the economic impact. Oil spill cleanup costs too increase with the size of the spill.

Most of the people along coastal areas depend on tourism for income. The restrictions imposed on recreational activities, such as diving, bathing, and boating in the polluted area affect tourism. As a result, they suffer huge economic losses. Until and unless oil spill cleanup is done, these continue to suffer.

Fishing industry is another prominent sector that bears the brunt of oil spills. Contamination or death of commercial marine animals and plants result in economic loss for the fishermen. Oil spill cleanup actions usually take a very long time. The fishing and shellfish area are closed during these periods. This interrupts the fishing activities, resulting in further loss to the fishermen. Fishing boats and equipment get damaged when they come in contact with the spilled oil.

Industries like hydroelectric power plants, desalination plants, and nuclear central stations depend on seawater for their operations. The whole operation of the large scale industries is affected if the spilled oil is mixed in the water being used by them.

With such obvious economic impacts, it is our responsibility to protect our environment from such disasters. Preventing oil spills and using environmentally-friendly oil spill cleaners, such as Oil Gone Easy S-200 rather than other toxic products will help a great deal in minimizing the impact of an oil spill.