CHATTANOOGA, Tenn – If using the boom of a 38-ton excavator to stir a 30,000 gallon mixture of liquid waste and sawdust doesn’t sound like a normal application for that machine, it’s probably because it isn’t. Just the same, that unusual job description is critical to the nation’s top industrial waste management company.

According to Paul Rasmussen, General Manager of Chattanooga Operations for Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc, it’s the Volvo EC330B LC that is the excavator of choice for that job.

“Our operators really rave about the Volvo’s power and smoothness,” Rasmussen said. “It’s a more powerful machine that handles a bigger bucket and a bigger load. The Volvo is very productive.”

Clean Harbors, headquartered in Braintree, Mass., is North America’s largest provider of environmental & hazardous waste management services, with nearly 50 waste treatment facilities across the U.S. and Canada. Customers of Clean Harbors include many Fortune 500 firms, major utility companies and local, state and federal government agencies.

The Chattanooga operation specializes in turnkey treatment of non-hazardous, non regulated industrial waste. Some liquids can be treated at the site’s wastewater treatment plant, while other liquids, sludges and solids must be solidified and stabilized before going to a Subtitle D landfill.

The Volvo EC330B LC in Chattanooga is used by operators in the stabilizing and solidifying of various kinds of non-EPA-regulated industrial waste. Typical waste products processed include petroleum, cutting oils, inks and dyes, landfill seepage, latex liquids and a wide range of solid materials.

The waste solidification process begins with materials being dumped by tanker or from truck into one of three steel lined, 30,000-gallon concrete cells.

“Depending on the material we’re treating, we add sawdust, cement kiln dust or a synthetic polymer, using the excavator’s boom to mix them together,” Rasmussen said. When that material solidifies and dries, operators excavate it out of the cells onto a concrete staging area, and use the excavator again to load the mixture into dump trailers for transportation to a landfill.

To minimize damage to the steel liners of the mixing cells during excavation, Volvo has supplied Clean Harbors Chattanooga with a specially designed 2.38 yd3 “toothless” pin on bucket.

The tree-covered mountains that surround the Chattanooga plant and offer a beautiful landscape give no indication as to the type of working conditions within the plant. Rasmussen said those tough conditions push the Clean Harbors excavator to its limit.

“This is an extremely tough, dusty, gritty working environment,” he said, noting that the EC330B LC has performed well under those conditions. “Sawdust and lime are very abrasive, and the lime mixture creates a very hot liquid that often heats up to over 200°F. The wear and tear on a machine can be severe.”

As a result of the intense air filtration requirements, Rasmussen said Clean Harbors has instituted an aggressive filtermaintenance program for its equipment, which requires daily cleaning of the excavator’s filtration system.

In addition to the daily system cleaning, the machine’s air filter is replaced every two weeks, rather than at a more typical 45-60 day interval.

“If you aren’t careful, you can damage the engine and/or the hydraulic seals,” Rasmussen said, adding that the three stage air filter system and its easy accessibility on the EC330BLC helps ensure that the maintenance is performed properly. “That’s very important.”

Prior to bringing in the Volvo EC330B LC, Clean Harbors Chattanooga operators were running Cat and Komatsu machines. When it came time to replace its machine, Rasmussen said the firm “looked at the big three: Cat, Komatsu and Volvo.”

“Each of those manufacturers gave us a machine to demo on our site,” he said. “We found that our operators really loved the balance between power and speed on the Volvo excavators. But the best of all is the Volvo fuel efficiency.”

In the end, the decision to bring in the Volvo EC330B LC was a matter of performance, productivity and value.

“They’re all good machines,” he said. “But, when we combined performance, service and the lease terms, Volvo was the best value for the money.”

Clean Harbors purchased its Volvo EC330B LC from ASC Construction Equipment in Chattanooga.

“Our salesman, Dave Parker, was steady and persistent,” Rasmussen said. “He knows what he’s talking about, and he’s not afraid to get ‘down in the trenches’ with you. He sells a commitment to service and maintenance, and the rest of the ASC team backs him up.”

Rasmussen said ASC recently provided its first regularly scheduled maintenance on the Volvo machine. “They were on time, respectful of our needs, and had us back up and running in about an hour,” he said.

Above all, Rasmussen has been impressed by ASC’s commitment to Clean Harbors, which included a pledge to “keep us up and running no matter what.”

“It’s nice to rely on that kind of service and reliability support that ASC has offered to our operation,” he said.

Rasmussen admits that Clean Harbors had high expectations from its new Volvo excavator. He also says that they haven’t been disappointed. “Our Volvo has not only lived up to our expectations, it has exceeded them,” he said. “So far, it has been flawless.

“It’s a terrific machine.”

Rasmussen said Clean Harbors operators are especially high on the Volvo machine’s tight operating control in the boom, and in tracking and pivoting.

And, the exceptional visibility of Volvo excavators has been a somewhat unexpected plus, both for safety and for reducing operator stress.

While conditions are significantly different than on a construction site – operators are alone on the pad – he said it’s critical that they have a clear field of vision.

“They have to be able to see it all: the cell, the materials they’ve mixing and excavating onto the staging area, and the trucks they’re loading.” he said. “And they do with the visibility we have with our Volvo”

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