Georgia Company Causes Chemical Spill, Harms Environment
On May 23rd, a fire started at Amrep’s chemical warehouse. The flames were massive and took 75 to 100 firefighters eight hours to put the flames out. The unfortunate consequence of this fire was a chemical spill. Chemicals began to leak from the warehouse and into a storm drain that lead to Sope Creek, which then feeds into the Chattahoochee River. The following day showed a bleak scenario. The creek was reported to smell of chemicals and an oily residue was pervasive along the banks. Among the obvious health hazard was an approximate 10,000 dead fish; among the dead were other animals like crayfish, salamanders, tadpoles and earthworms. Although the evidence as to what caused the fire was destroyed in the blaze, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division recently ordered a fine of $25,000 against Amrep for the environmental loss. As with all the other chemical tragedies that take place in this country, it may have been unavoidable, but we need to prepare better in order to minimize the chances of events like this taking place. This is terrible for the environment, the community, our friends, neighbors, and children. We can all do our part.
What Can We Do?
If you’re a project manager, business owner, or commercial enterprise organizer you need to invest in protective chemical storage units. This doesn’t have to be an expensive investment, but it is a smart one. We allow our customers to rent specialized flammable storage units that are fire-rated in order to minimize the chances of environmental hazards like the one outlined above. It is your duty to protect the community from the chemicals used by your firm. If you are an employee and your firm is engaging in non-compliant and unsafe chemical storage behavior, you need to report it to the authorities. If we all take our social responsibility seriously, we can prevent disasters from being the commonplace events that they are today. Give us a call at (888) 264-2449, to see what else we can do for you.
