David Cole (one of the UK's best-known experts in pollution containment), who has been recruited to lead the WPM team, makes the point that environmental pollution through firefighting water is often an unforeseen issue, while spills of pollutants carried in surface water can also lead to containment failures.
"Many companies may be seriously underestimating the risk of a pollution spill from firefighting water or polluted surface water discharging from their site," states Cole.
"Catastrophes such as the Buncefield fire in 2005 clearly show the consequences of not being protected – and that's not just because of the devastating impact on the environment," he continues.
"Companies could incur huge financial losses through punitive fines and as well as paying to put right the damage caused. In the worst case an unforeseen pollution incident could cripple a company through criminal or civil prosecutions and unaffordable costs."
WPM is a whole-life service, he says, which combines risk assessment, hydraulic modelling, project implementation and ongoing regulatory compliance.
"Operators often find their insurance is inadequate to cover the risks, or they may be paying unnecessarily high premiums because they are not able to provide evidence that they have fully mitigated their environmental liabilities," warns Cole.
He explains that Hydro Consultancy service begins with a survey of the site drainage and topography, from which an integrated hydraulic model is produced.
The hydraulic model is used to analyse each site's current level of protection and then Hydro's recommended pollution containment system is modelled for a range of events including extreme rainfall and firefighting water.
"Proper consideration of how surface water is discharging to the environment, should be on the agenda of any company that is keen to act sustainably," suggests Cole.
"Inadequate pollution spill protection is a threat to a company's brand equity, as well as its corporate and social responsibility."