OIL CLEANING BIO-PRODUCTS LTD.
PRESS RELEASE
ENVIRONMENT AGENCY OPTS FOR HEGFLOOR & "FAST RESPONSE BIN" FOR OIL SPILL CONTROL AT THAMES BARRIER
April 2001
The Environment Agency, which runs the Thames Barrier flood protection installation stretching across and under the River Thames in London, has switched to using Oil Cleaning Bio-Products Ltd's biodegradable absorbent "Hegfloor" and its unique "Ecocycle System" to deal with spillages of oil on hard surfaces, so that they are efficiently removed and separated for safe disposal.
Commenting on the move, Jon Rolls, ISO 14001 Project Manager at the Thames Barrier, said: "We make it our business to ensure that we spill very little oil here - but occasional small spills of fuel oil and hydraulic oil do occur and it is essential we have the very best and most environmentally friendly products to deal with them. We have been reviewing all aspects of our environmental management systems & decided to trial the Ecocycle System as part of our objective to establish procedures to cope with emergency situations. Our criteria for spillage control - beyond prevention - are efficient and quick absorption, the restoration of a dry, safe, non-slip surface, the reduction of VOCs in the working environment, biodegradability, use of recycled waste products and less off-site disposal."
Concerning the Hegfloor Ecocycle System, Mr. Rolls said: "The Hegfloor Ecocycle System is an ingenious device. It was described by Oil Cleaning Bio-Products as a mobile storage, dispensing, recovery, separation, recycling and disposal system for Hegfloor. That's a bit of a mouthful so we call it simply "The Fast Response Bin" - and will be retrofitting it with orange flashing lights! It will enable us to use Hegfloor with maximum efficiency and to minimise disposal problems."
Richard Genochio, MD of OCBP Ltd., added: "We are very pleased that even in a small way our products can play their part in the successful running of a vital security installation which is also a masterpiece of British engineering - so we don't mind in the least the new name that the EA has given to the Hegfloor Ecocycle System! We may even go one step further and re-name it "Robo Bin". Whatever its name, I am sure that, with Hegfloor, it will be ever-more widely adopted by industrial companies in many different sectors."
NOTES FOR EDITORS
1) Construction work on the Thames Barrier started in 1974 in response to the evident and growing threat to London posed by the long-term increase in high tide levels coupled with the risk of simultaneous weather-driven surges from the North Sea. The Barrier became operable in October 1982 and was first used in anger in early 1983. In the winter of 2000/2001 there were a record number of occasions when it was necessary to operate the Barrier, which has now been closed 62 times for flood defence purposes.
2) The Barrier (see photograph) comprises two abutments (one on each bank) and nine piers across the river which at this point is 520 metres wide. Between the piers and abutments are ten gates which can be moved into their closed positions against an incoming tide by rotating them through ninety degrees by the use of hydraulic rams. Six of these gates are situated in the navigation channels and, when in the open position, these sit in concave recesses in pre-cast concrete sills below the river bed and are thus unobstructive to shipping and normal tidal movements. The four largest of these main gates are 61 m. wide, 20 m. high and weigh in the order of 3200 tonnes.
3) Power to operate the hydraulic rams comes from electrically driven oil pumps. The electric supply to these is taken through two service/access tunnels in the concrete sills to the individual piers where it is transformed from the initial 11000 volts. To ensure the high level of reliability required for the Barrier, alternative supply routes are available. HV electricity is normally taken from the external sources on either bank of the river, but the Environment Agency also maintains and uses on site three diesel powered generating sets, each of 1.5 MW. For further information, contact Jon Rolls at the Environment Agency, Thames Barrier, on tel. 020 8305 4105.
4) Oil Cleaning Bio-Products Ltd. is an independent British company and is the sole and world-wide supplier of the "Heg" products. For further information about the "Heg" products view the OCBP web-site at www.ocbp.co.uk - or contact OCBP Ltd., PO Box 46, Royston, Herts. SG8 9PD, tel/fax 01763 287 749.
5) The "Heg" products include: Hegfloor (non-abrasive, biodegradable plant-based absorbent, used for oil spills on hard surfaces as a superior alternative to granular clay, sawdust and sand; it is stored, dispensed and recycled in the Hegfloor Ecocycle System - see photograph); Hegacid (for acid spills); Hegrem (absorbent with oil-degrading bacteria, for bioremediation of contaminated land and oily sludges); Hegseal (pliable clay for the emergency sealing of leaking or punctured drums, tanks and pipework); Hegsorb (biodegradable hydrophobic absorbent for spills on water and as a filter); Hegsurf, Hegol, Hegsolv, Hegstrip, Hegparts, & Hegflight (safe biodegradable, surfactants, solvents & solvent substitutes, some with oil-degrading bacteria, used for cleansing and degreasing); Heghand (for removing grease from grimy hands); Hegtrap (for the digestion of grease and fats in kitchen grease traps and drains); various Portable, Mobile or Static Spill Kits; and oil-only or universal absorbent booms, pads, socks and pillows.