Field Services
Overview
With highly trained staff, extensive equipment inventory and locations throughout North America, Clean Harbors provides a wide variety of environmental field services on a scheduled or emergency basis.
On land or in water, our Field Services teams perform a multitude of services, including sump and tank pump-outs, tank cleaning requiring confined space entry and vacuum services, building or site decontamination, large remediation projects and emergency response.
Safety
Clean Harbors No. 1 priority is the safety of our operations at your site(s) and in our facilities. Our comprehensive safety training protocols and procedures are unsurpassed. We continue to drive down our Total Recordable Incidence Rate (TRIR), Days Away, Restricted, or Transferred (DART) and Experience Modification Rates (EMR).
Vacuum Services
Clean Harbors Vacuum Services collect and transport wet or dry, hazardous and non-hazardous materials on a routine or emergency basis.
Unwanted by-products are a fact of life for industrial facilities. But disposing of these materials doesn’t have to be a drain on your resources.
Vacuum equipment—including stainless steel, carbon steel, dry and liquid units—is selected based on the nature and quantity of the material to be removed. Applications for our industry-leading Vacuum Services include:
- Liquids, solids, slurries and sludge (hazardous and non-hazardous)
- Pit and sump cleanouts
- On-site transfers
- Tank-to-truck, truck-to-truck
- Catch basins, storm drain systems
- Spill cleanups
- Tank cleaning
- Power plant and boiler cleaning
- Physical plant maintenance
Clean Harbors can schedule routine vacuum services or swiftly respond to emergency spills or product release situations.
Tank Cleaning
We can clean tanks of any shape and size, even tanks located inside buildings or at a remote location.
Clean Harbors Tank Cleaning experts perform a broad spectrum of cleaning tasks for industrial facilities, municipalities and utility companies.
Maintaining your equipment at its highest operational capacity is critical, and that includes keeping tanks clean and compliant with EH&S regulations. Clean Harbors handles a broad spectrum of cleaning from 10-gallon acid neutralization tanks for medical companies to six-million-gallon 240-foot-diameter refinery tanks.
Tank Cleaning Services We Provide
- Wastewater treatment neutralization for compliance with wastewater discharge regulations
- Tank maintenance and inspection
- Fuel oil tank cleaning
- Utility manhole and vault cleaning
- Tank and vessel cleaning during decommissioning and industrial renovations
- Large-scale tank cleaning
- IOS and rail-car container cleaning
Download Fact Sheet (Tank Cleaning)
The Clean Harbors Difference
Clean Harbors not only performs tank cleaning—we also remove the waste generated from the cleaning process and dispose of it safely using our own vehicles and treatment facilities. This additional benefit sets us apart and saves our clients time, money and hassle.
Decontamination
We have performed thousands of decontamination and facility closures from small single buildings to multi-building expansive facilities that require decontamination for mercury, lead, PCB and other contaminants.
Clean Harbors offers Decontamination services for a wide range of circumstances by removing, neutralizing or destroying any harmful substance.
Whether you operate an oil refinery, a processing plant, a medical lab or any type of industrial facility, decontamination is critical to safe and efficient plant management. Clean Harbors has the technical expertise, manpower and equipment to decontaminate all sizes and types of facilities and waste. We provide Decontamination services for:
- Heavy metals and chemicals
- PCBs and oil
- Individual chemical tanks and large plating tanks
- RCRA closure of hazardous waste storage areas
- Animal waste matter and rodents
- Biohazards and pathogens (such as avian influenza)
Download Fact Sheet (Decontamination Services)
Proven Techniques
- Manual scraping and use of high-efficiency particulate air filter vacuums
- Decontamination with bleach or other specialty chemical solutions
- Pressure washing
- Use of HEPA-negative air machines
When the health of your staff and function of your business depend on thorough, expert decontamination, contact Clean Harbors.
Product Recovery and Transfer
We have a full line of equipment, including our fleet of wet and dry vacuum trucks, specialty pumps and skimmers that are readily accessible for spilled product recovery or transfer.
Avoiding product spills is always the goal, but when they happen, Clean Harbors Product Recovery and Transfer Services is here for you. We provide immediate and complete capture of spilled product, which minimizes loss and environmental impact. We also perform routine non-emergency transfer of materials from tank-to-tank or over water.
On-Site Transfer into Existing Tanks
Our pumping systems allow safe and reliable movement of materials from storage tanks that need product moved prior to the tank being cleaned. When possible, we salvage reusable products and dispose of remaining waste at one of our facilities.
Marine Transfer Capabilities
Clean Harbors is approved by the U.S. Coast Guard for ship-to-shore product transfer in 22 Captain of the Ports. Our ship-to-shore transfer capabilities allow us to easily offload product from ships or barges onto tanker trucks or other vessels.
With our large, highly trained staff, vast equipment inventory and numerous locations throughout North America, Clean Harbors provides timely, safe and thorough product recovery and transfer services.
Demolition and Dismantling
We routinely handle demolition and dismantling of partial or total building or plant structures.
Clean Harbors provides Demolition and Dismantling services in both emergency and scheduled situations.
Organizations may require demolition and dismantling services for a host of reasons, including renovating or expanding facilities. Whatever the case, Clean Harbors Demolition experts have the technical skills and project management expertise to safely demolish and remove any structures, equipment and other building materials. Specific applications include:
- Removal of process equipment, tanks (including underground tanks) and piping
- Removal of reinforced concrete, structural steel, walls and floors
- Demolition and disposal of contaminated building components
- Demolition of compromised structures in emergency situations
EH&S Services
Whatever the demolition or dismantling project, Clean Harbors maintains its focus on safety and compliance. We obtain the proper permits, consult engineering disciplines, implement a site health and safety plan and mobilize the equipment and manpower to get the job done quickly, safely and in compliance with all regulations.
Finding a company to perform demolition isn’t difficult. But, if you’re looking for highly skilled experts who not only demolish but also transport and dispose of waste materials while ensuring regulatory compliance, then Clean Harbors is your first and only call.
Scarifying and Media-Blasting
Clean Harbors Media-Blasting removes staining or near-surface contamination from porous and non-porous surfaces.
Removing staining and contamination from your process equipment is a routine maintenance inevitability. Clean Harbors provides comprehensive Media-Blasting services for a wide variety of facilities. We perform pre- and post-cleaning sampling to ensure the effectiveness of the media-blasting. And our focus on proper decontamination of personnel and equipment ensures that no fugitive emissions or contaminants leave the media-blasting work zone.
Going the Extra Mile: An Eco-Safe Media-Blasting Alternative
While effective, traditional media-blasting can produce harmful waste products. For companies seeking to limit such waste, Clean Harbors offers baking soda blasting, a cleaning and surface preparation technique that provides an environmentally friendly replacement for conventional sand or grit blasting. In this process, we use compressed air to disperse specially engineered sodium bicarbonate, which removes surface contaminants or coatings. And, since sodium bicarbonate is not harmful to the environment, the residue is easily disposed.
Clean Harbors focuses not only on the task at hand, such as media-blasting, but also the effects that may occur afterward. This holistic approach includes safe, thorough blasting as well as compliance assurance and waste disposal—a turnkey service model that separates us from the crowd.
Steam Cleaning
Clean Harbors provides comprehensive Steam Cleaning services for industrial buildings, tanks and oilfield equipment.
Clean equipment operates the most efficiently, but not all materials can withstand the same treatment. Clean Harbors offers Steam Cleaning―a safe option for cleaning equipment that is too sensitive for high pressure water or chemical cleaning. We can also use steam wands to thaw flow lines, wellheads and tank valves as well as clean up oil spills in the winter. Often, Clean Harbors can conduct steam cleaning during production so you don’t experience downtime.
Clean Harbors Steam Cleaning equipment includes:
- One ton to tri-drives
- Up to 1,200,000 BTU boiler systems
- Up to 6,300 gallon water tanks
- Air-movers capable of generating up to 6,000 CFM
- Steamer-vacuum combo units
Clean Harbors has the equipment, manpower and expertise to provide high-quality steam cleaning services to industrial clients throughout North America.
Excavation and Removal
Clean Harbors routinely and expertly handles Excavation and Removal as the primary remedy for soil remediation projects, new construction, and expansion and real estate transactions.
As a single-source provider, one call anywhere in the continental U.S. and Canada will give you access to a Clean Harbors team that handles all aspects of the excavation and removal of tanks, including panning/sequencing, obtaining permits, waste management and health and safety.
Download Fact Sheet (Excavation & Removal Services)
The Clean Harbors Difference
As excavation and removal experts, Clean Harbors goes beyond expectations to provide:
- Excavation protection systems to ensure crew safety
- On-site remediation for cost savings
- Consolidation, containment and capping of waste on-site
- Vacuum excavation options when traditional removal techniques aren’t feasible
- Installation of groundwater collection systems (interceptor trenches)
- UST compliance programs involving removal of leaking or out-of-compliance systems, point source removal, and in situ remediation applications
- Excavation of buried drums and cylinders
Facility Closures
Regardless of complexity and even with short lead times, we formulate a remediation plan providing the best economic and environmental results.
Clean Harbors plans and executes Facility Closures of all types and size. We also transport and dispose of associated waste while assuring EH&S compliance.
Facility Closures require significant planning and effort, impacting productivity and your bottom line. Clean Harbors expertly handles a wide range of facility closures, from small one-day closures within the same building to larger closures and building decontaminations. We tailor our services to each site’s requirements:
- Demolition and dismantling
- Rigging or loading
- Confined space entry
- Cleaning or decontamination―using various solutions and detergents
- High pressure washing―from 3K to 40K psi
- Scarifying and media-blasting
- Chemical cleaning
- Mobile treatment systems
- Contaminated soil remediation
- Transportation and disposal of waste
- Recycling of waste
- Remediation, including contaminated groundwater, soil, building materials and concrete structures
As a leading provider of industrial field services, Clean Harbors assures timely, safe and cost-effective facility closures.
Rail-Car Cleaning and Inspection
Wash residuals from the cleaning operations are handled at Company-owned and operated waste management facilities for final disposal.
Clean Harbors provides all aspects of Rail-Car Cleaning and Inspection, including the disposal of hazardous waste.
Maintaining clean, safe rail-cars is essential to regulatory compliance and business performance. Clean Harbors provides turnkey rail-car cleaning at customer sites or at one of our waste management facilities, including:
- Transportation to the rail-car cleaning facility
- Mobile rail-car cleaning
- Waste profiling
- Transportation and disposal of waste in Company-owned facilities
Difficult to clean rail-cars―such as those with higher hazard contamination or hardened material―are our specialty. These may include PCB-contaminated rail-cars; rail-cars with hardened sludgy material; or rail-cars with higher hazard, off-spec chemicals.
Trained, Experienced Professionals
All of our crews are 40-hour trained and cross-trained in each aspect of rail-car cleaning, including:
- Confined space entry
- High pressure water training
- Specific OSHA C substance training
This training and expertise reduces your liability and ensures safe, compliant rail-car cleaning.
Maritime Services
We provide protective marine booming for ships and barges and line handling for tie-off or let-go at ports and facilities across North America.
With extensive in-house resources―from our trained field crews to our network of specialized equipment to our disposal facilities―Clean Harbors controls costs and liability while providing turnkey solutions for your maritime service needs.
Clean Harbors brings decades of marine experience to our Maritime Services, operating in most ports across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. In addition to our many locations, our robust equipment inventory―including more than 240 vessels, 100 skimmers and 360,000 feet of containment boom—ensures that we can respond quickly to your maritime needs. We effectively handle any size release, and we provide emergency response and response readiness for oil and chemical spills on water and land.
U.S. Coast Guard Oil Spill Removal Organization (OSRO)
As a classified OSRO, Clean Harbors holds Captain of the Port (COTP) ratings for facilities and vessels in 56 ports and is approved for ship-to-shore transfer operations in 22 COTPs.
Other Maritime Services
- Onboard maritime services to meet American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) Standards
- Port services and facility operational support
- Average Most Probable Discharge (AMPD) Coverage for transfer and lightering operations.
- Hazardous and non-hazardous waste disposal and recycling
- Decommissioning, cleaning and abatement for shipyards, dry docks and breaking facilities
- Offshore and nearshore petroleum services in the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Maritimes
Remediation Services
Clean Harbors can manage your remediation project from start to finish.
Clean Harbors Remediation Services handle large-scale, complex site cleanup projects and environmental construction needs for the public and private sectors. We can remediate any location to meet corporate or regulatory cleanup requirements.
Clean Harbors provides comprehensive on-site Remediation Services for a plant or facility expansion, an idled facility or a decommissioned process. If you are closing a process, a building or an expansive facility in order to sell the property, remediating a brownfield or repurposing property, Clean Harbors has the solution.
- Coke oven dismantlement and closure
- Landfill construction, capping and collection systems
- In situ, ex situ treatment
- Soil solidification, stabilization
- Excavation and disposal
- Decontamination, decommissioning, demolition
- Integrated remediation systems construction and management
- Hazardous and special waste management
- Manufactured gas plant remediation
- Mining site remediation
- Groundwater remediation
- Sediments remediation
- Remedial systems configurations for site-specific cleanup criteria
- Refinery projects
Whatever your remediation needs, Clean Harbors has the manpower, environmental equipment and expertise to not only get the job done but also exceed expectations.
Remediation Equipment
Clean Harbors has a large assortment of inventory that changes frequently.
Clean Harbors is your source for industry-leading remediation equipment.
When it comes to buying, selling, and renting used remediation equipment, Clean Harbors is dedicated to nothing short of excellence. Our goal is to provide you with state-of-the-art remediation equipment that consistently helps you complete your job effectively, safely and successfully. We maintain the largest supply of used remediation equipment in the United States – so that equipment is available when and where you need it.
Clean Harbors also custom builds remediation systems of all sizes with highly customized and sophisticated controls, sometimes blending new and used components to lower the project costs. Learn more about our environmental remediation equipment at remediationequipment.com.
Read MorePFAS, PFOA and PFOS Remediation
Clean Harbors is well situated throughout the U.S. and Canada to manage all disposal requirements related to PFAS.
The family of compounds known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) used in consumer and industrial manufacturing are persistent in the environment and are comprised of over 6,000 compounds. The most widely known compounds in this group are perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). However, the list of compounds of interest is growing quickly as commercially available standards are developed. Clean Harbors is versed in the nomenclature, analysis methods and treatment of these compounds. We can guide customers through the process of testing, treatment and final deposition and destruction of their materials and media.
Read MoreFiltration and Treatment Services
Utilizing highly trained, certified staff and specialized equipment, Clean Harbors provides field-based effluent Filtration and Treatment Services to manufacturing and energy clients throughout the United States and Canada.
As an industry leader in waste management and treatment, Clean Harbors understands and mitigates the challenges of handling effluent waste in the field. Our expert staff can help you choose the right filtration and treatment equipment from our vast inventory. And if we don’t have the filter you need, we will design and manufacture one for you. We also provide on-site consulting, including equipment inspection and assistance with EH&S compliance.
Our Filtration and Treatment Services also include:
- Portable systems that can handle an output of up to 12,000 gallons per minute
- Carbon change-out and disposal
- Treatment of contaminated water
- Filter products, bags and vessels
- Dewatering systems
- Remediation packages for water, wastewater, air, vapor and soil
Unsurpassed knowledge and training, cutting-edge equipment and timely on-site consultations make Clean Harbors the clear choice for your field-based filtration and treatment needs.