Ellis will respond to any requests when it comes to waste management, whether it is an emergency response to a spill or containerized waste needing disposal, such as in this photo. For this project, Ellis was retained to review the material safety data sheets, profile the waste and administer the pickup, transport and disposal of the waste. All of this was done for a client based in Ohio, who relied upon our firm to take care of it, following all applicable regulations without ever having to be physically present.

Ellis has several registered environmental assessors on staff to manage hazardous materials assessment projects.

In August of 1996, a set construction crew was cleaning an alley behind a vacant office building prior to filming. The workers used a water tank truck, using a high-pressure sprayer to apply 5,000 gallons of water to the alley surface.

The water drained directly into the basement of the building, rising to a level of approximately 4 feet above the basement floor. Two hours later, one of the workers noticed that a vapor was emanating from the water's surface. They also noted a film of oil or other petroleum product floating on the water.

Ellis was called to the site. We quickly identified the vapor as steam; the water had been heating rapidly as soon as it began to infiltrate live electrical equipment. The city was immediately notified and power was shut off to the building. We then sampled the film of oil floating on top of the water and identified it as diesel, displaced when water flowed into an emergency generator tank beneath the basement floor. After profiling the spill, Ellis quickly contacted a hazardous materials waste hauler and successfully negotiated a fair unit price for removal and recycling of the oil/water/waste product. We then worked with the city's hazmat team, the location and unit production manager to insure that work could be renewed with no delays in the construction or filming schedule.