Associate Member Profile | Drain-All Ltd.
Posted on“We respond to need, and we respond as required.”
After an entire career in emergency response, that’s how Bob Goodfellow sums up the work Drain-All does for its clients when and wherever disaster strikes.
Drain-All is headquartered in Ottawa with operating facilities in both Ottawa and Napanee, Ontario. Yet, as a trusted member of the Canadian Emergency Response Contractors Alliance, crews are sometimes called to go further afield – on their own or to support other contractors.
Goodfellow says major events are rare, but are almost always high stakes with public safety, environment, and corporate reputation possibly on the line.
“You need to stay in prepared-readiness mode at all times,” he says.
Emergency planning, mitigation, and response are tightly regulated by Transport Canada, and anyone involved in transporting specified dangerous goods must ensure there is an approved Emergency Response Assistance Plan.
For transporters, that can mean additional costs to store and maintain specialized equipment, some of it unique to rail.
As a responder-contractor, Drain-All must stay continuously abreast, and show proof, of the latest training, systems, licenses, and more, to respond if there is an incident.
Goodfellow speaks highly of the RAC’s training programs and others his crews take in Pueblo, Colorado.
He believes everything that goes into preparing for and mitigating against emergencies is “another way of looking at sustainability.”
Drain-All crews were designated essential services early in the pandemic, but did require special permits to pierce the ‘Atlantic Bubble’ to respond to an incident there recently.
It’s all part of being ready to leap into action if or when the call comes.
COMPANY PROFILE:
Name: Drain-All Ltd.
Founded: 1984
Owner/president: Frank Cardinali
Offices: Ottawa and Napanee, ON
Employees: approx. 200