Emergency Response

Overview

 </a> Clean Harbors responds to more than 4,500 emergencies each year.
Clean Harbors responds to more than 13,000 emergencies each year.

With more than 100 response locations in North America, Clean Harbors has the manpower, equipment and technical expertise to manage any size environmental emergency on land or water.

When evaluating emergency response companies, know that Clean Harbors can rapidly deploy experienced, fully certified workers to meet the needs of any incident in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico.

  • Emergency spill clean up
  • Over-the-road incidents 
  • Punctured lines 
  • Tank overflows 
  • Leaking drums 
  • Saddle tank spills 
  • Large pipeline ruptures 
  • Mercury spills
  • Biological and infectious materials 
  • Ship groundings 
  • Tanker truck rollovers 
  • Chemical and hazardous material spills 
  • Oil spills
  • Hurricane, earthquake and storm damage 
  • Emergency lab packs
  • Homeland security and terrorist attack responses
  • Releases in warehouses and distribution centers
  • Excavation of buried drums and cylinders

Download Clean Harbors Emergency Response Resource Book for US
Download Clean Harbors Emergency Response Resource Book for Canada (English)
Download Clean Harbors Emergency Response Resource Book for Canada (French)
Download Emergency Response Brochure
Download Fact Sheet (Emergency Response Services)
Download Fact Sheet (Emergency Operations Center)
Download Fact Sheet (Bird Flu Rapid Response Services)

Rapid Response and Containment

Varying by the response, spills typically can be contained within the first few hours, with minimal remediation in the next 48 hours. Clean Harbors works under all local, state and federal guidelines (EPA, OSHA, USCG, etc.) when performing containment and cleanup. Waste for off-site disposal is packaged and prepared for shipment to a waste treatment and disposal facility. 

Emergency Preparedness

Clean Harbors Emergency Response experts can provide guidance on emergency management, operations, planning, logistics and more. Our Standby Emergency Response Coverage ensures that you have the necessary coverage and response in the event of an environmental emergency.

Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO)

Under the U.S. Coast Guard’s OSRO Classification Program, Clean Harbors holds Captain of the Port ratings for facilities and vessels in 56 ports throughout the United States and Puerto Rico. 

Emergency Operations Center

Clean Harbors operates an Emergency Operations Center where duty operators certified in DOT and RCRA can help you 24/7. One number, one call: 800.645.8265

Retail Disaster Recovery Services

Retail Disaster Recovery Services

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Clean Harbors manages the environmental needs of retailers facing disaster cleanup.

Clean Harbors provides safe, efficient environmental and waste management solutions to thousands of retail locations across North America. With proven expertise, extensive equipment inventory and broad capabilities, Clean Harbors manages the environmental needs of retailers, allowing you to focus on your business and bottom line.

For immediate service call 800.645.8265

Disaster Relief Services:

  • Flood water management and mobile treatment
  • Debris removal and disposal, ranging from sheetrock to flooring
  • Hazardous waste collection and chemical identification, packaging and disposal
  • Vacuum truck services, including emergency pump-outs and spill cleanups
  • Rolloff container rentals and transportation
  • Collection, recycling or disposal of damaged goods, such as food waste, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and DEA controlled substances

Download Fact Sheet (Retail Disaster Recovery Services)

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Oil Spill Response

Oil Spill Response

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We handle all types of spills&mdash;heavy, medium and light oils, PCBs and low flash point liquids&mdash;including submerged oils.

With more than 35 years of experience in oil spill response, Clean Harbors has the resources and expertise to respond to any size oil spill on land or in water―anywhere across North America.

Whatever the size or type, oil spills interrupt work and impact the environment. We are experts at expediently containing and remediating spills so that you can resume normal operations. 

Clean Harbors Expertise and Resources 

Clean Harbors handles everything from common over-the-road oil spills to large-scale events such as ship groundings, pipeline ruptures, well blowouts, tanker truck rollovers and facility releases. Our oil spill response resources include:

  • Response vessels, containment boom and skimming and recovery equipment 
  • Full ICS/NIMS support team 
  • Certified vessel operators and crew support 
  • Agency contractor and insurance company approval

U.S. Coast Guard Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO) 

Under the U.S. Coast Guard’s (OSRO) Classification Program, Clean Harbors holds Captain of the Port (COTP) ratings for facilities and vessels in 56 ports and is approved for ship-to-shore transfer operations in 22 COTPs. 

Download Fact Sheet (Oil Spill Removal Emergeny Response Services)

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Chemical and Hazardous Material Spill Response

Chemical and Hazardous Material Spill Response

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Our National Strike Team can travel to any location throughout North America to aid in emergency response.

From one small spill to large-scale facility decontaminations, Clean Harbors has the personnel, equipment and technical proficiency to handle all types and sizes of hazardous material and chemical spills.

While facilities certainly should focus on preventing spillage of chemical and hazardous material, it’s a fact of life that accidents happen. When spills occur, you want them handled quickly, safely and professionally—so, you contact Clean Harbors. We manage spills of all types and sizes, including:

  • Flammables, corrosives, oxidizers, toxics, poisons 
  • Liquid, solids, semi-solids, gases 
  • Solvents, acids, bases (caustics), reactive material 
  • Metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, etc.) 

Clean Harbors Services

Our experienced, 40-hour OSHA HAZWOPER trained and certified workers manage all aspects of hazardous material and chemical spill cleanup.

  • Immediate response and containment
  • Recovery and cleanup
  • Repacking and removal
  • Decontamination and restoration
  • Transportation, treatment and disposal
  • Short- and long-term site remediation
  • Containment maintenance
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Natural Disaster Response

Natural Disaster Response

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Clean Harbors has a long history of responding to natural disasters in every part of North America.

Clean Harbors has the expertise and personnel to meet the needs of any natural disaster response, from hurricanes and earthquakes to floods, mudslides and fires.

Natural disasters are difficult to predict and impossible to prevent. Clean Harbors stands ready to deploy hundreds of experienced HAZWOPER trained and certified workers to meet the needs of any incident.

Proven Experience

Clean Harbors routinely responds to the types of hazardous and non-hazardous spills caused by natural disasters, including releases and spills on land and in water, over-the-road incidents, punctured lines, tank overflows and excessive storm water runoff. We mobilize quickly and have the logistical tools to ensure safe and efficient natural disaster operations:

  • Level C through Level A response 
  • On-site health and safety managers 
  • Online MSDS support with 24-hour access 
  • Full ICS/NIMS support team

Download Fact Sheet (Hurricane & Disaster Response Services)

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Emergency Pump-Outs

Emergency Pump-Outs

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Available 24/7, our experienced and well-equipped personnel are ready to handle your emergency situation.

With a large nationwide team of specialists and a vast array of equipment, Clean Harbors provides fast and efficient Emergency Pump-Outs of sumps, pits, manholes, tanks and vessels of any size. 

Speedy response and expedient materials management are essential to emergency pump-outs. We handle pump-outs of products at various temperatures, pressures and consistencies, including hazardous and non-hazardous materials in liquid, semi-solid and solid forms.

Resource Recovery

Recognizing that some waste streams have value if reprocessed, we can recover spilled product, process it in our facilities and provide an outlet for any reclaimable materials. 

Other benefits of Clean Harbors Emergency Pump-Outs include:

  • Immediate response 
  • On-site tank transfer and temporary storage 
  • Experience with various products, temperatures, pressures and consistencies 
  • Level C through Level A response 
  • Extensive resources and equipment 
  • Personnel, experience and sound management 
  • On-site health and safety managers 
  • Online MSDS support with 24-hour access 
  • Full ICS/NIMS support team
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Emergency Waste Disposal

Emergency Waste Disposal

With our extensive network of personnel, vehicles and disposal facilities, Clean Harbors can expertly and nimbly handle virtually any emergency waste disposal situation.

When you operate an industrial facility, unforeseen situations like emergency waste management can create unwanted downtime and costs. As waste collection and disposal experts, Clean Harbors has the top-notch staff and critical equipment to provide efficient emergency waste disposal for a wide variety of situations.

Clean Harbors provides recycling, treatment, incineration or landfill disposal of emergency waste, depending on your needs. We can dispose of many types of emergency waste, including:

  • Hazardous and non-hazardous waste 
  • Drum and bulk waste 
  • Liquids, solids, semi-solids, sludge and gases 
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Standby Emergency Response Coverage

Standby Emergency Response Coverage

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With an agreement in place, Clean Harbors can perform a site visit to prepare for a rapid response prior to an actual emergency.

Clean Harbors Standby Emergency Response Coverage ensures rapid response to any emergency waste management needs.

No one wants to think about the worst-case scenario. But, by planning ahead and obtaining Clean Harbors Standby Emergency Response Coverage, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your organization has guaranteed service should an environmental emergency arise. 

Under a Standby Emergency Response Agreement (SERA), Clean Harbors experts can perform a range of preparation activities that ensure rapid response time when it’s needed most:

  • Conduct site familiarization visits
  • Perform tabletop and deployment drills
  • Negotiate terms and conditions
  • Conduct insurance and credit checks

The SERA also enables customers to list Clean Harbors as their Emergency Response provider on their response plans.

Why Clean Harbors?

Clean Harbors is the leading Emergency Response provider in North America with more than 50 internal locations capable of providing response and hundreds more as part of our audited and approved subcontractor network. Quite simply, no one has the industrial emergency response experience, knowledge and manpower that Clean Harbors has.

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National Response Coverage Programs

National Response Coverage Programs

Clean Harbors National Response Coverage Program provides comprehensive emergency and incident response services throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

For many companies, the potential for exposure to environmental incidents has grown as their businesses have expanded. Clean Harbors has the manpower, facilities, equipment and expertise to handle these emergencies while minimizing EH&S concerns. Our National Response Coverage Program provides specific environmental emergency response protection for companies that transact business over a wide geographic area.

Clean Harbors Emergency Operations Center (EOC)

The “mother ship” of our National Response Coverage Program, Clean Harbors Emergency Operations Center (EOC) offers critical assets to handle any situation:

  • Operators trained in customer service and certified in DOT and RCRA training
  • Computerized phone systems, Fleet Complete and MapPoint
  • Internal dispatch program identifying available personnel and equipment at each of our locations
  • Dedicated emergency response phone numbers that can tie-in your outside phone numbers
  • Efficient data management structures

Advantages of our National Response Coverage

  • Accurate and timely reporting  
  • Customized Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)
  • 24/7 weather monitoring and alerts
  • Advanced technologies 
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Bird Flu (HPAI) Rapid Response Cleaning & Containment Solutions

Bird Flu (HPAI) Rapid Response Cleaning & Containment Solutions

Highly pathogenic avian influenza is an extremely infectious and fatal disease that can spread rapidly among flocks and into surrounding farms – wreaking havoc on entire areas. 

With strategically placed resources across the continent, Clean Harbors is the largest emergency response provider in North America and offers the most comprehensive agricultural cleaning and bio-containment services available.

Concentrated in Iowa, Clean Harbors in the summer of 2015 responded to one of the worst outbreaks of avian flu in U.S. history – an epidemic that spread through 174 farms in 15 states and affected 38.9 million birds. 

Swift, meticulous and thorough response is the only way to ensure poultry farms or other bird facilities return to full production with the least amount of disruption.

Clean Harbors offers myriad agricultural and bio-containment services to protect farms including bio-security, depopulation, disposal, cleaning and transportation.


Biosecurity

Clean Harbors teams follow the strictest of bio-security measures to prevent the spread of infection.

Depopulation

Following all United States Department of Agricultural approved protocols, Clean Harbors crews are trained and experienced in all acceptable depopulation processes. 

Disposal 

On-site methodologies help minimize the offsite spread of the infection. Clean Harbors provides all three USDA-approved on-site disposal methods – offering removal using Clean Harbors transportation equipment and decontamination processes that reduces risks by avoiding handoff to a third party.

Cleaning

Dry, wet, disinfection and heat processes are combined as needed to maximize cleaning effectiveness for sites in order to get owners back into operation as quickly as possible.

Transportation

Clean Harbors trucks and containers transport all waste to local, approved landfills or disposal facilities. Crews perform a thorough decontamination process before leaving and returning to a site and all routes are scrutinized to minimize potential impact to unaffected facilities. In addition, staged response teams are always in place to react immediately to any transportation issues. 


  • Clean Harbors’ services are delivered by trained experts using Company-owned assets, giving clients the agility to act quickly and effectively no matter location.
  • With a proven track record of success on the largest scale, Clean Harbors training and service methodologies are based on USDA criteria, Occupational Safety and Health Administration standards and the highest of bio-security principles. 

One call to 800.645.8265 or email to hpai.us@cleanharbors.com puts owners in touch with the same Clean Harbors experts who work with federal and state agencies along with local agricultural representatives. When time is of the essence, there’s no need to get bogged down with paperwork – Clean Harbors representatives can also help with USDA forms and many insurance documents.

Download our Bird Flu Rapid Response Fact Sheet

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