24/7 incident management

Despite the deployment of high quality equipment, an incident can never be completely prevented. Even on the Markermeer dikes, the safe option is taken and Wilchem Environmental and Incident Management is on standby 24/7 to intervene quickly, safely and professionally in case of any environmental incidents. So far, the Papendrecht-based company has been called upon only once. And that, according to Willem Bekkink of Wilchem, is very minimal considering the size of the project.

Wilchem has a national framework agreement with Boskalis Netherlands and is a subsidiary of KWS infra. As such, it is therefore the party for incident management on the Markermeer dikes. "We are on standby 24/7 to intervene in the event of an environmental incident," Bekkink explains. "So far, only one incident has occurred throughout the project. On Nov. 18, 2020, at 9:20 a.m. to be exact, we received a report of a leak to a generator on a pontoon. Within an hour, we were on site to safely and professionally clean up the contaminants."

Low impact

This was a low-impact incident, Bekkink recalls. "The Alliance people had already done the initial remediation by covering the diesel oil on the pontoon with sand. Wilchem then cleaned up the contaminated sand, packed it in PE drums and transported it to an authorized processor. The container that contained the aggregate was also cleaned by our people. For hydraulic line leaks or diesel leaks, our emergency room is available 24/7. And so we are always ready for such incidents for companies in the construction and infrastructure sector. Generally, we are on site within an hour."

Besides contractors, Wilchem is also frequently active for Rijkswaterstaat, provinces and municipalities. Bekkink: "They outsource integral area maintenance, which includes incident management. Our tasks are extremely diverse and vary from the deployment of traffic measures to secure the situation after an accident and the cleaning of mud, oil or paint traces on a road surface to the securing of an overturned tanker with dangerous substances or overturned signs. Especially in case of leaks on roads, there is a chance that liquids will run into the roadside. We then provide initial salvage and initial construction to clean up with an environmental supervisor to prevent the environmental contamination from increasing."

Wilchem has skilled and broadly trained personnel. "No day is the same for our employees," Bekkink acknowledges. "We pay a lot of attention to training and education in our own training center, so that our people can act quickly and effectively in all occurring circumstances. Incidentally, the training center is also open to third parties. Not infrequently, we provide disaster training and professional competence training for employees of our clients. And all with the aim of minimizing the impact of environmental incidents."