Author: Alex Miller

Score One for the Drycleaners in BAAQMD…at least for a little while

Posted on by Alex Miller

By Marti Russell, REA, Western Sales Manager, EnviroForensics

A Steering Committee Meeting was held on Friday, March 5, 2010 in San Francisco.  As if the economy isn’t bad enough for small businesses and depending on the outcome of this meeting, the cleaners in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District in Northern California may have another hurdle in trying to stay open and meet the mandated regulations bestowed upon them.

The BAAQMD staff was directed by the Board of Supervisors last year to come up with a plan to shorten the time frame on phasing out perc in their District.  All perc cleaners in the BAAQMD know the District wants to accelerate the banning of perc faster than the California Air Recourses Board mandated timeframe of 2023. Continue reading “Score One for the Drycleaners in BAAQMD…at least for a little while”

News for Drycleaners Concerning BAAQMD

Posted on by Alex Miller

Submitted by Marti Russell, REA-1, Registered Environmental Assessor and Western Sales Manager for EnviroForensics

As it stands now, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) in Northern California may be changing their regulations…again.  AND, things do not look so good for dry cleaners in that District.

BAAQMD staff will go in front of the Stationary Steering Committee on Monday, November 16, 2009 to discuss the social economic impact the current State’s Air Toxic Control Measure (ATCM) regulation is having on the Dry Cleaning Industry. Everyone should be aware by now, that it is extremely tough out there for businesses to survive.  Some businesses are down by 30%, banks are not lending money for equipment upgrades and credit scores need to be over 680 to qualify for loans or leases.

However, more important than the Steering Committee meeting, is the one that will be held on December 16, 2009. BAAQMD staffers go in front of their boss, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors (BOS), to address the directive that the Board gave them last year.  This meeting will be open for public comments.

Continue reading “News for Drycleaners Concerning BAAQMD”

The Road Goes on Forever and the Trial Never Ends

Posted on by Alex Miller

Written by John C. Bird, P.G., Vice President of EnviroForensics
As seen in the June 2009 issue of Western Cleaner & Launderer

PDF Version

On Monday this week, May 18 th a State Court jury awarded $18.3 million to the City of Modesto in their 11 year old lawsuit against dry cleaning chemical manufactures, suppliers and equipment manufactures. The City of Modesto had sued Dow Chemical, PPG Industries, Goss-Jewett, R.R. Street & Co. and others for a threat of groundwater contamination at four dry cleaner sites in the City of Modesto. According to the City of Modesto, several municipal supply wells had been impacted with perchloroethylene (PCE), a chemical widely used by the dry cleaning industry. The City alleged back in 1998, among other things, that the defendants made a defective product and they failed to warn the dry cleaners about the threat to groundwater from letting PCE discharge into the City’s sewer system. The jury trail lasted 5 months and is apparently not over yet. Both sides in the case do not appear to be completely happy with the jury’s decision. Continue reading “The Road Goes on Forever and the Trial Never Ends”

Camp Lejeune

Posted on by Alex Miller

Written by John C Bird, P.G., Vice President, EnviroForensics

Over twenty years, the contaminated water supply at Camp Lejeune has been a hot topic. From 1957 to 1987, more than 75,000 Marines and their families were allegedly exposed to tap water contaminated with the toxic chemicals trichloroethylene (TCE) and tetrachloroethylene (PCE).

In 1984, the results of a laboratory analysis of drinking water indicated a concentration of 1,400 parts per billion (ppb) of TCE collected from a supply well on base. The federal government eventually set a maximum safe level for TCE in drinking water at 5 ppb. Continue reading “Camp Lejeune”

Maybe Its Time to Write Your Congressman

Posted on by Alex Miller

8-10-or-12-Pick a Number…

Written By: Marti Russell, Western Sales Manager, EnviroForensics

At a Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) meeting in San Francisco, California, the Bay Area cleaners learned their recent “proposed” fate.  The 8, 10, or 12 numbers are the newly proposed phase out years for dry cleaning machines that use perchloroethylene (Perc).  Never mind the State feels that perc units can operate safely for 15 years.

This idea of giving years for the phase-out is a result of a directive given to the BAAQMD staff, from the BAAQMD Board of Directors, at a Hearing on March 4, 2009.  I believe the Board’s exact words were that they felt there is “an excessive amount of time” between now and July 1, 2010 (the year perc (15+ old units need to stop being used and or need to be replaced in CA) and the year 2023, (the year perc is totally banned in California).  The BAAQMD wants to see a shorter time span for phasing out perc units, so the magic number will either be all 8-year, 10-year, or 12-year-old perc machines that must stop being used in the air shed monitored by the BAAQMD. Continue reading “Maybe Its Time to Write Your Congressman”