Need to introduce environmental awareness in fire fighting. Part 2/8. 27

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Introduction of the ISO 14001 to the disaster recovery – part 2/8.

Impact on the environment can no longer be ignored when using technological equipment in the chemical and oil industry. Guidelines are provided and obligations are laid down by law with regard to the permissible extent of environmental impacts; soil, water and air protection; energy and waste management; and protection against noise and vibration load. We need to introduce environmental awareness in fire fighting.

Need to introduce environmental awareness in fire fighting

 

In Europe, caution, prevention and recovery are the key principles in environment safety regulation. The use of the environment must be organized and carried out by causing the smallest possible environmental load, preventing environmental pollution, and excluding environmental harm. When using the environment, the principle of caution must be respected, environmental elements must be safeguarded and used only to the extent absolutely necessary, and waste must be reduced to minimum. The law clearly provides that when using the environment, the Best Available Techniques (BAT) must be used for the purpose of prevention.

Environment protection laws in each country determine emission limits.

Some international treaties reflecting joint commitment:

 

Air pollution, climate

1992 Rio de Janeiro UN Climate Frame Treaty

1994 Oslo Sulphur II. Treaty

1997 Kyoto Treaty CO2 Greenhouse Effect

1999 Göteborg Protocol

2000/87 GREEN BOOK

2000/88 ECCP (European Climate Changing Program)

 

Above and underground water and soil

80/68/EEC Underground Water Protection Directive

91/676 EEC Nitrate Directive

96/61 EC IPPC Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive

2000/60/EC Water Frame Directive

86/278/EEC Waste Water Directive

 

Dangerous plants, prevention

82/501/EEC SEVESO I.

96/82/EEC SEVESO II.

AARMS 5(1) (2006) 139

 

Environment management

ISO 14001: Environmentally Aware Management System

EMAS: Environment Management and Auditing Scheme

INEM: International Network for Environmental Management

 

The environmental protection laws and the related implementation directives apply to stationery, known technologies with continuous emission, and prescribe in detail the method for the measurement and calculation of each type of pollution emission and the permissible limits.

Disaster incidents are characterized by the unpredictability of what will happen, when and where. Environment protection laws do not regulate the circumstances and methods of disaster recovery, but refer this task to the competence of the disaster recovery laws. However, the law regulating disaster recovery tasks does not lay down environmental quality and quantity requirements, although properly chosen recovery technology may considerably reduce the load on the environment.

 

Orangutan

 

According to international agreements, all activities (also including disaster recovery) should be planned and executed so as to cause the least possible effect to the environment, reduce the load on and the use of the environment, without endangering or polluting the environment, prevent waste formation, and reduce the volume and dangerousness of the resulting waste.

Taking good care of their image, most big companies maintain an Environmentally Aware Management System in accordance with ISO 14001. Unfortunately, in the operation of this system, attention is mostly focused on the basic technology, while inadequate attention is given to the environmental aspects of disaster recovery activities.

The appropriate environmentally aware working method is to apply the Best Available Technique (BAT), which can be achieved by an ongoing search for the technology available at a particular moment and causing the least environmental load, and by the comparison of technologies.

 

In eliminating fire incidents, the following depend on the appropriate choice of technology:

burning time (sum of the preparation time and the extinguishing time), that determines air pollution, and the

specific extinguishing agent need (total extinguishing agent need), that determines the water and soil contamination.

 

to be continued…

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