Businesses in southeast Texas are being offered a couple of web tools to help them deal with the devastating effects of Hurricane Harvey. Both tools – one from Wastebits to help businesses find debris-haulers, the other from VelocityEHS to help companies find safety information about chemicals released in the area – are now offering free access.
Finding a Hauler for All Debris and Waste Types
For business locations that are inundated with debris from Hurricane Harvey, a vendor portal will help them identify companies that can transport or accept waste in their area; the portal’s homepage has been updated to make it easy for affected businesses to find a service provider in the wake of the hurricane. Waste management technology company Wastebits is enabling free access to its software platform to help with the coordination of recovery and cleanup efforts. The company’s Vendor Locator lists waste vendors, equipment providers and service providers that are involved in the transportation and/or disposal of hazardous waste, special or regulated waste and other waste types.
Effective immediately, Wastebits says it is providing free access to all posting and communication tools on its vendor portal for waste vendors, waste brokers, waste transporters, emergency response companies and suppliers of containers, absorbents, and other equipment through the end of the year. “The goal of this effort is to quickly and easily facilitate communications between groups affected by Hurricane Harvey that need clean-up and waste removal services,” the company says. The types of storm debris to be disposed of includes but is not limited to: municipal solid waste (MSW), construction and demolition (C&D), hazardous, special or regulated and/or medical wastes.
The Wastebits homepage now features a special Hurricane Harvey section with links directing visitors to either select “I’m a Company that Accepts/Transports Debris” or “I Need to Dispose of Hurricane Debris.” Users can search by company type, waste type, and geographic area, and can see vendor lists complete with address and distance to the vendor. More detailed vendor pages then give information on accepted materials, hours of operation, a request-for-pricing link, and contact info.
Wastebits is also asking all current clients listed on its portal to login as soon as possible or by September 8, 2017 to update their company’s information, type(s) of waste accepted or managed, services or equipment provided, geographic coverage area and hours of operation.
Dan Collins, the company’s CEO, says that a critical part of the cleanup from the effects of Harvey will be coordination and speed, in order to minimize further devastation. “The waste disposal industry has an opportunity to take a leadership position in aiding this effort,” he says.
Locating Critical EHS Info
VelocityEHS, a provider of EHS and sustainability software, is offering access to its MSDSonline safety data sheet (SDS) library at no cost for local businesses affected by Hurricane Harvey. For a limited time, all customers and noncustomers in the Gulf Coast can search through the millions of safety sheets in the MSDSonline database to locate critical safety information for chemicals released from area oil refineries, chemical plants, gas facilities, manufacturing facilities and other sources during the storm and its cleanup. In addition, a dedicated emergency toll-free telephone number (1-844-308-7011) has been set up to help those who need a safety data sheet but don’t currently have internet access.
“Without accurate information on the SDSs around the health and environmental risks associated with chemicals that may have been released, it’s impossible to understand their full impact on the surrounding community and how to correctly administer the clean-up process,” VelocityEHS says.
The public health risks from chemicals released during Hurricane Harvey are particularly concerning, considering the high concentration of petroleum refining, ethylene production and chemical feedstock facilities in the surrounding Gulf Coast area, the company adds.
