United States Environmental Services (USES) was contracted by National Response Corp. to assist in the cleanup efforts directly related to the Intercontinental Terminals Co. (ITC) tank fire that took place earlier this year in Deer Park, Texas. USES provided six response boats with a total of six boat captains and 15 deck hands.
Among the various tasks assigned to the USES crews were:
- USES personnel acted as support vessels to transport Coast Guard personnel along the Houston Ship Channel to inspect the incoming and outgoing vessels for contamination, deconning and cleaning.
- USES crews installed a 42-inch-by- 18-inch containment boom around vessels moored in docks on the Houston Ship Channel and maintained the installed containment boom for 33 days before removing it.
- USES personnel utilized absorbent materials to clean impacted areas in the ship channel. Its crew also assisted inside the ITC plant with the offloading of recovered material for storage and disposal, oil skimming and oil recovery operations.
- In addition to these crews, USES was also contracted by Weston Solutions to provide one boat crew to assist in water sampling of the Houston Ship Channel for six weeks after the incident.
USES personnel utilized absorbent materials to clean impacted areas in the ship channel.
USES has a 15-plus-year environmental and industrial service history. The company originated in emergency spill response and environmental services, growing to be one of the most recognized brands in the emergency response business, with a portfolio that encompasses open-water spill response, railcar spills, firefighting, toxic contamination and general cleanup.
"This company has the best safety culture and performance record I have been associated with," said USES CEO Christopher Daniels. "USES has not had a recordable injury or lost work day in over two years ... Even when working in environments with different standards and isolated areas, we all share the same value of never sacrificing safety. That tells me the people are committed to doing the right thing.
"We are integrating our service offering to provide seamless emergency response capabilities with daily maintenance activities, as well as specialty services that create value for our customers. We quantify value in safety, reliability, productivity and problem solving. USES is changing to meet the demands of our customers. Our portfolio will emphasize the synergies of those needs."
USES is also introducing new service offerings such as decontamination testing. "This provides our customers with detailed environmental sampling and documentation, providing quantitative and qualitative analysis to ensure environmental compliance and protect employees from exposure to hazardous and toxic environments," Daniels said. "We are offering this as an individual service or in conjunction with our turnaround services, chemical cleaning and decontamination services.
"The key differentiators for USES are safety, commitment and people. With leadership, engagement and commitment, we can accomplish anything."
For more information, visit www. usesgroup.com or call (888) 279-9930.
