Mercury Pivot Bearing Decommissioning
LET NORTH SHORE SAVE YOU THE DISASTER… AND THE COST OF ONE.
NSEC provides expert assessment decommissioning, and disposal of the Center Pivot Bearing associated with trickling filters at Waste Water treatment facilities.
Improper handling and assessment of the mercury seals in the bearings can result in catastrophic disasters as what happened at the Dubuque Waste Water Plant in Dubuque, Iowa at the start of the 65 million dollar plant renovation in September of 2010.
The improper handling of the bearings during removal by a local contractor was catastrophic. OSHA levied fines against several contractors and against the City of Dubuque. The spill clean up took approximately 6 months to complete. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN AVOIDED.
BACKGROUND
Wastewater treatment facilities use trickling filters mainly for reducing the levels of biological oxygen demand and total suspended solids in wastewater. Settling tanks use pivot arms to separate solids from the solid-liquid suspension. The center columns of the trickling filters and pivot arms bearings are likely to contain a large amount of mercury. Mercury was used as a water seal because of its high density and low friction and also helped balance the pressure while wastewater pumped through the filter.
After many incidents resulting in contamination due to mercury seals leaking hundreds of pounds of mercury into the tanks, the use of mercury was prohibited and companies stopped the manufacturing of mercury seals approximately 30 years ago.
Learn More About Mercury Spill Response
