The usual PPE for this area was a set of rain gear, oil resistant gloves and boots duct tapped to the rain gear and a hard hat and chemical eye protection. Plastic bags containing oily waste, generated during the cleanup, were processed at this facility, also known as the Dayville site. Up to 50 day-shift workers and 20 night-shift workers sorted the bags, separating out those that did not contain oily waste for transport to a sanitary landfill. Those that contained oily waste were doublebagged and moved to a holding area at the site for subsequent transport to other hazardous waste landfills. The workers sorting the bags wore PPE for protection from the oil contents of the bags which frequently were torn open during handling or broke open because they were not sealed securely. Several foremen, members of the Alaska Laborers Union, had completed their unions 40-hour HAZWOPER class and convinced their employer to let them build a decontamination line, which was not present when the site was established. They built a wonderful decon area with lots of extras, like enclosed areas for protection from the wind and rain and boot dryers with warm air. Everyone used this decon after their 12 hour shift, unlike many of the other decons on the spill which were by-passed by most workers and supervisors. For more information on this cleanup, go to the Laborers Union public health team report at the NIEHS Oil Spill website (under Other Oil Spill Resources) at tools.niehs.nih.gov and …
