Emergency hydraulic oil spill clean-up at a Hove bus station

A same-day response to a spill that had got out of control

Four technicians across two teams attended the Hove bus station as part of an emergency response.

The first challenge was establishing the true extent of the spill. The hydraulic oil had spread well beyond the area initially covered with sand, affecting a much wider section of hard flooring across the construction zone.

That changed the job from treating one obvious patch to tracing and cleaning contamination across the surrounding working area. With refurbishment activity already affected, the teams needed to move quickly while making sure the less-obvious edges of the spill were not missed.

Getting the refurbishment moving again

The affected hard surfaces were cleaned and decontaminated, allowing the bus station refurbishment to resume with minimal delay.

The combination of same-day mobilisation, two cleaning teams and the following-morning inspection meant the response addressed both priorities of the project: dealing with the immediate hydraulic-oil contamination and returning the working area to the refurbishment programme as quickly as practicable.

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Cleaning beyond the initial containment area

The sand had helped contain some of the hydraulic fluid, but absorbent material alone was not enough to remediate oil that had spread across the hard surfaces.

Contaminated sand and surface oil were removed before technicians progressed to active treatment. Specialist degreasing chemicals were used to break down the hydraulic oil, followed by high-pressure jet washing to clean the affected hard flooring.

The response combined physical removal, chemical degreasing and mechanical cleaning rather than treating the initial sand containment as the finished solution.

As the response continued into the evening, fading light made small residual traces of hydraulic oil more difficult to identify reliably.

Rather than treating speed as the only measure of success, the team returned the following morning and inspected the affected area again in full daylight. Any remaining traces could then be treated before the refurbishment workforce returned.

It was a simple but important decision: minimise disruption, but not by rushing the final stage of the clean.