HOW KNOWING THE ECOLOGY OF YOUR SITE CAN POTENTIALLY SAVE YOU FROM ENVIRONMENTAL FINES

Kirsty Spencer and Mark Tomlinson, Principal Ecologists at Adler& Allan explain how finding out about the health of plants, fish and invertebrates on your land and water can keep your business safe.

If you know the ecology of your site, you can spot and repair any potential problems that might be building up undetected. Not acting quickly, though, could result in serious contamination that could lead to massive clean-up costs, operational downtime, environmental fines and reputational damage.

The variety of liquids and gases a storage terminal, tank container, road tanker, shipping, port or rail operation might handle is vast. Among them are refined petrochemicals, chemical compounds, foodstuffs and energy-based fuels. The commodities are also received and stored in widely differing volumes before their onward journey.

One thing nearly all of them have in common, though, is that they can wreak catastrophic environmental damage if allowed to escape from storage, containment and distribution assets.

And the issues leading to such pollution can sometimes go unnoticed for many years by operators - there may only be a drip flow of small amounts at a time - particularly when an effective asset management strategy has not been put in place. It means that problems could be building up for a long time before anyone realises what’s going on.

Warning signs

This makes it imperative to look to your site’s ecology for the warning signs that can tell you so much about its environmental health and to establish the ‘baseline’ conditions that can then be referenced should a spill take place. For example, the diversity of aquatic invertebrates, or lack of them, can indicate the health of a waterbody.

A thorough analysis is so much more accurate than ‘taking the pulse’ with a water quality meter, which is merely a snapshot of wellbeing. The in-depth study can report widely varying results over very short periods - for instance, charting rapid rates of decline and recovery in a matter of just days.

This complete check will look at population levels of animals (fauna) and aquatic plants (flora) that are known to be sensitive to pollution. Particular bellwethers are fish and macroinvertebrates – creatures without a spine that can be seen with the naked eye - for instance, snails, and insect larvae, such as dragonfly nymphs.

However, detailed knowledge about the different tolerances of various species is also essential. For example, stickleback can thrive in quite dirty, poorly oxygenated water, giving the misleading impression that all is well, whereas the loss or absence of brown trout in a river or stream they were once found in can indicate it is detrimentally impacted.

Pointer to a longer-term problem

Again, though, plants that aren’t present where they should be can be a reliable pointer to a longer-term problem. An advantage over some fauna studies here is that, being stationary, individual plants cannot temporarily move to avoid a pollution event and must either withstand it or die back.

Reflecting environmental conditions experienced throughout the year, rather than a quick glimpse, these can show where there has been a gradual feed of lethal pollution, such as farm runoff, rather than a quick, obvious hit.

Unnatural nutrient levels in soils can also lead to an increased dominance of nutrient-loving plants, with a consequent loss of more vulnerable and rarer species.

Subtler clues

Subtler clues include plant reactions to gradual change, such as where a soil goes from alkaline to acid over time, as a result of a slow, incipient feed of pollution. It’s worth bearing in mind that transformations can occur naturally, as can a loss of moisture in the soil, but it’s the indicator that prompts the study, which determines the cause. Of course, some incidents happen quickly but, if unnoticed at the time, may lead to longer lasting damage. Such a scenario might see a chemical gas leak’s tell-tale signs of its strength, direction and how far it has travelled in the reactions of trees in its path. Depending how close they are to the contamination source, these might variously die off, shed their leaves at the wrong time of year or speckle/discolour.

CONCLUSION

It is vitally important for companies to know how healthy their property and land is. They should commission detailed environmental surveys periodically for an upto-date, accurate picture – not just when it’s thought there is a problem.

These can validate site cleanliness or spot undetected pollution, allowing it to be dealt with promptly, heading off more serious future issues before they escalate. Such studies can identify potential risks to the environment and advise on how to avoid a future pollution incident occurring.

Examples include avoiding storing chemicals or fertilisers too close to a watercourse, allowing adequate protection against flood waters spreading contamination or pinpointing a particular defect that might be repeated in other assets and components.

Kirsty Spencer and Mark Tomlinson are Principal Ecologists within the Water & Ecology Team at Adler & Allan, which conducts detailed, highly accurate site audits and guide on remedial action and clean-ups where needed. It gives customers peace-of-mind in detecting and minimising environmental risks. For more information visit

www.adlerandallan.co.uk