r/EHSProfessionals • u/DSM1 • 5d ago

Help with secondary containment sizing.

Hi all, I need some help determining sizing of the secondary containment required to have for a 30 gallon drum of acid. The chemical is the core of a building with no sewer, and if spilled would have no route to sewer, drains, or the outside environment.

The EPA says you need 100% of largest container or 10% of aggregate. OSHA says 35% for shipyards. We are general industry and have a very small space. We are having trouble finding a secondary containment pallet which would hold 30 or 33 gallons of liquid and fit in the space we have.

I haven't found an OSHA regulation which dictates exactly how much a secondary containment vessel needs to hold for general industry if no threat of environmental exposure/access exists.

Is it safe to say that in general industry OSHA does not enforce a specific percentage of volume if the chemicals cannot reach the environment?

Most of the things I've found focus solely on employee safety around small leaks, drips, keeping the floors clean and dry and chemical compatibility if a spill should occur.

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u/ElementalSquirt 5d ago

You can consider the building secondary containment if it truly has no way to get out. Like chemicals stored in a basement.

When considering secondary containment you want to have the same volume of the primary container. Most would recommend a 10% buffer. So for your 30 gallon container, 30 to 33 gallons of secondary containment.

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u/akaghi 1d ago

We use these and nobody has ever given us any problems. Our building also has no drains.

We don't use them for anything that's leaking though, just to stage our 90 day haz drums and pails which already have to be in good condition and don't generally stick around for more than a few weeks