Part of your job is to ensure a safe and healthy work environment extending out to consumers and the community at large. There have been all too many headline-making cases of companies that strayed outside the bounds of compliance and ended up negatively impacting the communities around them.
Take, for example, Wolverine World Wide in Rockford, Michigan. This small-town shoe factory located on the Rogue River ended up leaving a 25-mile trek of PFAS contamination. To this day, kayakers and fishermen in the area are advised to wash off immediately after getting out of the water. And, of course, Wolverine World Wide has shelled out millions of dollars in reparations.
That is not the reputation you want for your company and illustrates why environmental testing is essential for your business. Environmental services can keep you within the boundaries of compliance, provide specialty analytics, and test well water purity. Multiple industries can benefit from environmental testing, and here’s how it can help keep your company on track.
Getting Specialty Analytics
Accidents happen, and dangerous contaminants like PFAS (Per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances) and Legionella are leaked into the environment. Years of prolonged exposure can be extremely hazardous and take years and millions of dollars to clean up. The EPA strictly enforces UCMR 4, a contaminant monitoring rule designed to keep drinking water safe and clean for the future. Think about hiring Environmental Consulting and Testing Services such as LEW Corporation if you need some specialty analytics.
You might also need specialty analytics for detected speciated metals like lead, mercury, and arsenic – all of which are capable of killing people who come into contact with them. Lead can still be found in drinking water, as can mercury and arsenic. Ensuring that your home or workspace water is safe to drink is essential, and testing services can help remediate any high levels of these metals.
Maintaining Compliance
Routine analysis and compliance are multi-faceted. You might need to get your wastewater tested per NPDES permitting. This type of analysis can include microbiology (such as fecal coliforms and E. coli), diverse general chemistry analyses (of organics, inorganics, and metals), Whole Effluent Toxicity, and organic chemistry (such as herbicides and pesticides).
Municipal drinking water should also be regularly tested for potential contaminants. Microbiological and chemical testing can uncover levels of inorganic contaminants, secondary contaminants, volatile organics, synthetic organics, disinfection by-products, metals, and microbiology.
You might also need to know if you are in compliance regarding governmental site work. If you are conducting it, you should opt for multi-incremental testing, site investigations, and soil characterization of the ground where you are working.
Of course, groundwater and waste management are also important areas where environmental testing is crucial. Air testing too can reveal whether your company’s structures have good indoor air quality and assess whether any remediation needs to be done.
Well Water Purity
Are you a private homeowner who relies on well water? If so, the EPA recommends that you check annually for nitrates, nitrites, and bacteria. If your well or plumbing has had work done since your last check, you should go ahead and get the water tested. Also test if there has been flooding in your area or if you notice the quality of your water has become cloudy, discolored, or has developed an odd taste.
You might think your water looks and tastes just fine, but it is still a good idea to get it checked for possible contaminants every year.
Regardless of whether you run an engineering company, a shoe manufacturing company, are doing work for the federal government, are planning a redevelopment of your site, or are simply a homeowner needing their well water tested, environmental testing can help. Knowing what is in your immediate environment can lead to remediation if necessary, spares your consumers and community from any health and safety hazards, and lets you rest easy knowing you are in compliance with those stringent EPA requirements.