Secondary containment environmental compliance depends on creating a reliable backup barrier that can capture leaks or spills before hazardous materials reach soil, groundwater, drains, or surrounding property.
For industrial facilities handling oils, fuels, chemicals, wastewater, process liquids, and other potentially harmful materials, primary containment is only the first line of defense.
Tanks, vessels, piping, drums, process equipment, and storage containers can eventually leak or fail. Secondary containment provides another layer of protection designed to keep a localized failure from becoming an environmental incident.
Quick Answer
Secondary containment is a protective system surrounding or beneath primary storage or process equipment. Its purpose is to capture leaks, spills, or releases before material can migrate into the environment.
Depending on the facility and regulated material, containment may involve coated concrete basins, curbs, dikes, berms, sumps, trenches, liners, sealed penetrations, or other engineered systems.
There is no single containment design or capacity standard that applies universally to every industrial facility. Requirements can depend on the material, quantity, facility classification, applicable federal and state regulations, permits, and site-specific engineering.
For example, EPA’s SPCC requirements for qualifying oil facilities require appropriate secondary containment or diversionary structures. For certain bulk storage installations, containment must accommodate the capacity of the largest single container plus sufficient freeboard for precipitation.
Why Secondary Containment Matters for Environmental Protection
The primary purpose of secondary containment is simple: keep a release from spreading.
A small leak that remains inside a properly constructed containment area can often be isolated and addressed. That same leak can become much more serious if the material travels through cracked concrete, failed joints, drainage systems, soil, or groundwater.
Effective environmental protection containment systems can help facilities:
- Isolate leaks and spills
- Protect soil and groundwater
- Reduce the risk of material entering stormwater systems
- Support spill-control procedures
- Simplify cleanup and recovery
- Protect surrounding equipment and infrastructure
- Demonstrate a planned approach to environmental risk
- Support applicable facility compliance programs
EPA describes the SPCC program as a means of helping regulated facilities prevent oil discharges to navigable waters and adjoining shorelines.
The exact regulatory requirements still depend on what is stored, the facility configuration, quantities involved, and which rules apply.
What Does a Secondary Containment System Include?
Secondary containment is more than putting a coating on a concrete floor.
A complete system must be evaluated as an assembly.
Depending on the facility, that can include:
Containment Floors and Basins
Concrete containment areas may surround tanks, drums, equipment, pumps, or chemical-processing areas.
The substrate must be structurally sound and prepared correctly before a protective lining is installed.
Curbs, Dikes, and Walls
Containment walls prevent released materials from moving beyond the designated area.
Floor-to-wall transitions require particular attention because cracks, cold joints, and failed sealants can create pathways through an otherwise intact system.
Joints and Cracks
Expansion joints, construction joints, cracks, and previous repairs must be properly evaluated.
Covering a moving or deteriorating crack without addressing the underlying condition can lead to premature lining failure.
Penetrations
Pipes, drains, equipment supports, anchors, conduits, and other penetrations can interrupt the containment barrier.
These details often require specialized preparation and sealing.
Protective Linings and Coatings
Southern Industrial Linings provides containment solutions using systems that may include sprayed polyurethanes, polyureas, hybrid coatings, 100% solids polymers, high-solids epoxy systems, primers, and other materials selected for the substrate and operating environment. SIL applies systems to prepared concrete, metal, fiberglass, geotextile, and other appropriate substrates.
The appropriate system should be selected based on the actual chemical and operating exposure rather than coating type alone.
How Does Secondary Containment Support SPCC Compliance?
Facilities subject to EPA’s Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure rule must evaluate containment based on the requirements applicable to their operations.
Under the general SPCC containment provisions, facilities must use appropriate containment or diversionary structures or equipment to prevent regulated oil discharges. EPA notes that multiple containers or equipment may sometimes share a common containment or collection area rather than requiring a separate structure around every individual container.
For applicable bulk storage container installations, EPA requires secondary containment capable of holding the entire capacity of the largest single container plus sufficient freeboard for precipitation.
EPA also recommends retaining calculations that document containment capacity so they can be available during an inspection, even though those calculations are not necessarily required to appear directly in the SPCC Plan.
This makes the physical integrity of the containment area important.
A containment plan can look correct on paper but still perform poorly if the actual basin has cracks, deteriorated concrete, failed joints, unsealed penetrations, or a chemically incompatible coating.
Hazardous Waste Containment Requirements Can Be Different
Facilities should not assume that SPCC rules cover every secondary containment situation.
EPA also maintains requirements under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for certain hazardous-waste facilities. For example, EPA states that permitted treatment, storage, and disposal facilities managing containers of liquid hazardous waste are subject to secondary containment requirements under 40 CFR 264.175.
That illustrates why containment projects should begin by identifying the facility’s actual regulatory, engineering, material, and operational requirements.
Southern Industrial Linings installs and rehabilitates containment infrastructure. Facility owners, environmental professionals, engineers, and other responsible parties should establish the regulatory criteria the system must satisfy.
Why Containment Systems Fail
Environmental compliance depends on the containment system working when it is needed.
Common failure points include:
- Cracked or deteriorated concrete
- Coating delamination
- Failed seams
- Improper surface preparation
- Chemical incompatibility
- Deteriorated joint material
- Poorly sealed penetrations
- Corrosion beneath existing systems
- Moisture beneath the coating
- Insufficient film thickness
- Abrasion or traffic damage
- UV and weather exposure
- Standing water
- Improper previous repairs
A containment system should therefore be inspected as a complete barrier rather than simply evaluated by the appearance of its coating.
Choosing the Right Secondary Containment Coating
There is no single coating that is best for every industrial containment environment.
Material selection should account for:
Chemical exposure. What substance could contact the lining, at what concentration, temperature, and duration?
Substrate. Is the system being applied over concrete, steel, fiberglass, geotextile, or another material?
Movement. Will joints, thermal cycling, vibration, or substrate movement affect the system?
Physical exposure. Will forklifts, maintenance vehicles, foot traffic, equipment, or impact affect the containment area?
Outdoor conditions. Will the surface experience rainfall, sunlight, temperature changes, or prolonged moisture?
Cleanup procedures. What cleaning chemicals, pressure washing, or decontamination procedures will be used?
Polyurea, polyurethane, epoxy, hybrid systems, and other high-performance coatings have different strengths. The system should match actual service conditions.
Inspection Should Come Before Rehabilitation
Installing a new lining over a failing containment area without determining why it failed can repeat the original problem.
A professional assessment should examine:
- Existing coating condition
- Concrete integrity
- Cracks and joints
- Penetrations
- Walls and curbs
- Drainage
- Previous repairs
- Moisture conditions
- Chemical exposure
- Traffic conditions
- Areas of corrosion or deterioration
Surface preparation and repairs can then be matched to the selected lining system.
This approach is particularly important when rehabilitating older tank farms, manufacturing facilities, chemical-processing areas, power facilities, wastewater infrastructure, and other industrial environments.
Secondary Containment Is Part of a Larger Protection Strategy
Secondary containment should not be viewed separately from primary containment.
Primary containment is the vessel or structure directly holding the material. Secondary containment provides backup protection if that primary barrier leaks or fails.
Facilities evaluating containment conditions should therefore consider both systems.
Southern Industrial Linings provides primary and secondary containment services for industrial and municipal environments, including protective systems designed for chemical resistance, water resistance, spill control, and long-term infrastructure protection.
Facilities comparing the two layers can also review SIL’s guide to primary containment versus secondary containment.
For petroleum operations, SIL’s containment systems for oil and gas facilities resource provides additional guidance on tank farms, loading areas, equipment pads, processing areas, and produced-water environments.
Areas We Serve
Southern Industrial Linings supports industrial, municipal, manufacturing, energy, petroleum, chemical-processing, wastewater, and infrastructure projects throughout Georgia and across the Southeast.
Facilities in industrial markets throughout Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Florida, and the broader Southeast may face different environmental, permitting, operating, and containment requirements. System design and material selection should therefore reflect the specific facility rather than relying on a generic containment specification.
Planning a Secondary Containment Project?
A secondary containment system needs to do more than look intact. It must provide a continuous, durable barrier appropriate for the material, substrate, environment, and facility requirements.
Southern Industrial Linings works with facility owners, engineers, contractors, and industrial operators to assess existing containment areas, repair deteriorated substrates, prepare surfaces, and install high-performance protective lining systems.
Planning a new containment project or evaluating an existing system?
Contact Southern Industrial Linings to discuss your secondary containment application.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is secondary containment?
Secondary containment is a backup barrier designed to capture a leak, spill, or release from primary storage or process equipment before the material can spread into the surrounding environment.
Is secondary containment required by the EPA?
It is required in certain regulated situations, but requirements vary. For example, facilities subject to the SPCC rule must meet applicable containment provisions for oil, while certain permitted hazardous-waste facilities have separate RCRA containment requirements. Facility owners should determine which federal, state, permit, and site-specific requirements apply.
How large does secondary containment have to be?
There is not one universal sizing requirement. Under applicable SPCC bulk-storage provisions, containment generally must accommodate the capacity of the largest single container plus sufficient freeboard for precipitation. Other containment applications can have different requirements.
What materials can be used for secondary containment coatings?
Depending on chemical exposure and substrate conditions, systems may include polyurea, polyurethane, epoxy, hybrid coatings, high-solids systems, and other specialized polymers. Selection should be based on the material being contained and the operating environment.
Can secondary containment be installed over existing concrete?
Often, yes, provided the concrete is properly evaluated, repaired, and prepared. Cracks, deterioration, contaminants, moisture, failed coatings, and damaged joints should be addressed before the new system is installed.
What causes secondary containment coatings to fail?
Common causes include poor surface preparation, chemical incompatibility, moisture, failed joints, substrate movement, cracks, inadequate thickness, corrosion, abrasion, UV exposure, and improper repairs.
Does secondary containment replace primary containment?
No. Primary containment directly holds the material during normal operations. Secondary containment is the backup barrier intended to control a release if the primary system leaks or fails.
Can one containment basin protect multiple tanks?
In some SPCC applications, EPA permits a common containment or collection area serving multiple containers or equipment, provided the system satisfies the applicable requirements. Facility-specific design and regulatory review are still necessary.
