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The EnviroMotive Express |
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April 23. 2001 Issue No. 2 |
The Environmental & Safety Newsletter for Vehicle Maintenance & Refueling Operations |
Courtesy of EnviroSafeShop.com |
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From
www.envirosafeshop.com THIS
ISSUE’S CONTENTS: Trucking Co. Owner Jailed for Two Years; Mechanic Gets 10 months for Environmental Violations New Book: Vehicle Maintenance Manager’s Guide to Environmental Excellence University to Pay $800,000 To Settle EPA Violations
40
Shop Safety Rules Warning
on Illegal CFC Use in A/Cs and Reefers; 109 Fined/Jailed So Far puraDYN
Wins Major Award for Bypass Oil-Filtration System that Extends Engine Life, Can
Eliminate Oil Changes and Save Money Owner
of 200 Gas Stations in Central New York To Pay $520,000 for Tank Violations at
60 Locations EPA
Administrator Whitman Signs New Rule on Onboard Diagnostic Emission Testing The
Environmental Wonders of Diesel Power, Fuel of the Future
About The EnviroMotive Express
The EnviroMotive Express is an electronic newsletter on environmental and safety topics and news relating to vehicle maintenance and refueling operations. It is published by Environmental Development Corporation (EDC), Findlay, Ohio. EDC will publish The EnviroMotive Express periodically for our customers and others who request it. Comments can be forwarded to comply@envirosafeshop.com.
Enviro=relating to the environment, including a safe work environment + Motive= a reason, cause and motivation AND related to auto-motive + Express= as in delivery of a communication with speed and accuracy.
Message
to Our Readers
Since
our first issue in December/January, we have posted hundreds of requests for The
EnviroMotive Express. We invite you to simply forward the newsletter to
all of those on your email list who you think would be interested. They should
not only appreciate the thought and be interested in the content (and further
links), but they will have the opportunity to respond to us directly TO
SUBSCRIBE. After all, it is free and you might also be helping someone in
their job and helping some organization improve their environmental and safety
program for their shop. __________________________ Trucking
Co. Owner and Mechanic Go To Jail For EPA Violations
In
April 2001, the former owner of an Easton, Pa. trucking firm and his head
mechanic were sentenced to jail terms and fined for conspiracy, falsifying
inspection results, and discharging hazardous materials into the Easton sewer
system. The owner and operator of Schippers
Service in Easton, was sentenced April 10 to two years in jail, three years
supervised release and fined $5,000. The other man, who Schippers employed as
chief mechanic until November, 1995, was sentenced to 10 months confinement and
three years of supervised release. __________________________
EPA
and University of Rhode Island Agree to $800,000 Settlement in Environmental
Enforcement Case
In
the past year, EPA has targeted colleges and universities for inspections and
enforcement due to widespread non-compliance. Inspections include vehicle
maintenance and fuel storage facilities. In April, EPA announced that the
University of Rhode Island has agreed to an enforcement settlement worth at
least $800,000 - most of which will be spent on environmental improvement
projects - stemming from widespread environmental violations found at the
university's Kingston campus during a 1997 inspection. It is the largest
settlement of its kind to date involving a New England university. Under a
consent agreement filed in U.S. District Court, URI will ay $250,000 in civil
penalties, implement environmental improvement projects worth at least $550,000,
and perform a campus-wide environmental compliance audit. In the Consent Decree,
URI certifies that it is now in compliance with the allegations set forth in
EPA's complaint. In addition, URI has agreed to conduct a comprehensive
multi-media environmental audit that will rectify any problems revealed during
the audit. __________________________
PuraDYN, Manufacturer of By-Pass Oil Filtration Systems Wins Industry Award From Lubricants World Magazine PuraDYN™
Filter Technologies Inc. received in April an annual award from Lubricants World
magazine for 2001. puraDYN won the top honor in the magazine's equipment
category for its by-pass oil filtration systems for internal combustion engines.
Winning product selections are based on the impact they have had or are likely
to have on the lubricants industry. puraDYN
manufactures and markets the puraDYN By-Pass Oil Filtration System, a unit that
continuously filters lubricating oil by reducing solid contaminates to less than
one micron, as well as removing liquid contaminants, therefore maintaining the
oil's viscosity and greatly reducing or even eliminating the necessity for oil
changes. As a result of this continuous process, the useful engine life can be
extended. The puraDYN system is effective for internal combustion engines,
hydraulic applications and automatic transmissions in the automotive,
transportation, construction, marine, agriculture, mining, military and power
generating industries. In addition to the economies realized by the reduced
purchases of new oil and the costs of disposing of used oil (up to 90%) and
extended equipment life, the puraDYN By-Pass Oil Filtration System has been
certified as a "Pollution Preventing Technology" by the California
Environmental Protection Agency. For more information on puraDYN Filter
Technologies Inc., call (561) 547-9499 or visit http://www.puradyn.com/.
__________________________ EPA Administrator Whitman Signs Onboard Air Emission Test Rule
On
March 28, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman signed a final rule to require
states subject to auto emissions testing to incorporate checks of second
generation on-board diagnostics systems into their inspection and maintenance
programs. This rule allows these system checks to be done in lieu of
conventional tailpipe emissions testing on 1996 and newer model year cars
equipped with on-board systems. EPA's rule calls for this testing to be
incorporated into inspection and maintenance programs beginning January 2002,
and provides for air quality "credits" similar to the most stringent
emissions tailpipe tests. On-board diagnostic system checks entail a simple
plug-in of a scan tool computer to a vehicle's dashboard. The scan tool checks
for stored trouble codes, which the on-board computer stores when a monitored
component or system fails. ___________________________ Industry
Urged to Steer Clear of Illegal CFC Refrigerant
The
Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy reminded the industry and the public
this month to be certain that their chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerant
purchases are legal, and to refuse to buy illegally imported refrigerant.
The warning came as reports are beginning to surface that illegal CFC
imports may be on the rise as these ozone-depleting refrigerants become more
scarce due to their phaseout under U.S. law and international treaty. "Purchasers
of the illegal refrigerant are at risk. The
government may confiscate any illegally imported refrigerant, even if it has
been passed down through the marketplace, and prosecute purchasers who knowingly
buy illegal material," stated Dave Stirpe, Executive Director of the
Alliance. "Consumers
should also be wary of the refrigerant since some of the imported material has
been found to be of poor quality," Stirpe noted. Since
1995, 103 individuals have been convicted under circumstances involving the
sale, import, or purchase of illegally imported CFCs.
Penalties have included prison sentences ranging from two months to
nearly five years. Fines totaling
over $40 million have been imposed. The
civil penalty for violating EPA regulations can be up to $27,500 per violation. The
supply of CFC-12 refrigerant has diminished over the years and, with its
increased cost, it may be wise to convert your air conditioning system to
another refrigerant when it requires repair.
HFC-134a, used in new vehicles and as a CFC-12 replacement, is the
"refrigerant of choice" of automobile manufacturers and the air
conditioning repair industry. "Illegal
imports make ozone-depleting CFCs more available, reduce the incentive for users
to shift to alternatives, and penalize legitimate companies who are complying
with U.S. laws," Stirpe stated. In
order to report any violations regarding imports or excise taxes that are due on
certain stockpiled refrigerant, please call: EPA: 800-296-1996; IRS:
202-622-4177; or Customs:
800-BE-ALERT. The
Alliance is an industry coalition of domestic users and producers of CFCs and
alternatives such as HCFCs and HFCs. Today,
the Alliance is a leading industry voice that coordinates industry participation
in the development of reasonable international and U.S. government policies
regarding ozone protection and climate change. SOURCE: Alliance for Responsible Atmospheric Policy
40
Shop Safety Rules have
been posted at www.envirosafeshop.com
in the Fact Sheets section. Copy, paste, modify! (Please note the conditions for
use) Owner
of 200 Gas Stations in Central New York To Pay $520,000 for Tank Violations at
60 Locations The
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in April that Mid-Valley
Oil, the New Windsor, New York-based owner of 200 gas stations located primarily
throughout central New York State, has agreed to pay a penalty of $400,000 for
violations of federal underground storage tank regulations -- the highest EPA
penalty ever obtained in a settlement of charges of tank mismanagement in New
York or New Jersey. EPA identified
tank violations at 60 gas stations -- most of them Xtra Marts and Citgos --
ranging from failure to check regularly for releases of petroleum into the soil,
to failure to upgrade older tanks to comply with new EPA safety standards.
In some cases, tanks at Mid-Valley gas stations released petroleum
product into the environment. The
company was given 45 days to make payment. In
addition to the $400,000 penalty, by July 1, 2001, Mid-Valley Oil is required to
certify to EPA that it has brought into full compliance all the tanks that had
not been upgraded to meet more stringent federal standards. The company has
certified that since February 1, 2001, it has been testing all of its tanks for
releases as required by EPA, and as part of the settlement, will keep proper
records of those tests from now on. If
Mid-Valley fails to comply with the requirements of the settlement, it will face
additional penalties. Mid-Valley
also recently reached a $120,000 settlement with the DEC on additional charges
of tank mismanagement. As part of
its settlement with DEC, Mid-Valley agreed to develop and put into place an
environmental management system, a company wide program of employee training and
internal audits, to avoid future violations. In
1998 Mid-Valley Oil reported projected sales of $150 million and employed 689
persons. Mid-Valley is a subsidiary
of Warren Equities, Inc. of Providence, Rhode Island. (SOURCE: U.S. EPA)
Diesel
Forum Releases Report 'Engineering Clean Air'
"Clean
Diesel power is the technology of the future," according to a white paper
released in March by the Diesel Technology Forum. The paper, "Engineering
Clean Air," documents the innovations in technologies that have
dramatically reduced, and will continue to reduce, the emissions from all diesel
engines.
"The
progress the diesel industry has made has been extraordinary-to meet increasing
customer demands for greater fuel efficiency, performance, durability and
reliability, while at the same time achieve unparalleled progress in reducing
emissions," stated Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Forum.
Technological
innovation has transformed the inherently simple mechanically controlled engines
to ones with fully integrated electronic computer controls that now monitor and
adjust every aspect of engine performance and emissions thousands of times each
second. Today's engines employ a
wide range of technologies to lower emissions and increase performance and
efficiency including new combustion chamber designs, highly advanced electronic
fuel injection systems, turbo-charging systems, exhaust gas re-circulation,
oxidation catalysts, particulate filters, and the use of reduced sulfur clean
diesel fuel. "Diesel
is the world's most efficient internal combustion engine," explains
Executive Director Schaeffer, "and it provides both more power and more
fuel efficiency than alternatives such as gasoline, compressed natural gas (CNG)
or liquefied natural gas (LNG). With
the technological advancements now underway coupled with cleaner diesel fuel, we
are well on our way to being able to state with confidence that diesel power
will also be the cleanest." The
Diesel Technology Forum brings together the diesel industry, the broad diesel
user community, civic and public interest leaders, government regulators,
academics, scientists, the petroleum industry, and public health researches, to
encourage the exchange of information, ideas, scientific findings, and
points-of-view to current and future uses of diesel power technology. Copies
of the white paper, "Engineering Clean Air" can be obtained by
downloading the document from the Forum Web site at http://www.dieselforum.org
or by contacting the Forum at 703-234-4411. SOURCE Diesel Technology Forum
About Environmental Development Corp. For 10 years, EDC has been a national leader in providing environmental and safety compliance and training tools for vehicle maintenance and refueling operations. EDC has developed national programs for such groups as GM, Volvo, Toyota, Toyota Industrial Equipment, U.S. Air National Guard, U.S. Air Combat Command, Midas, NAPA and many others. Our products include guidance and training manuals for managers and technicians, a 900-question Compliance Audit Systems, and over 50 training videos on pollution prevention and safety in vehicle maintenance. Let us help you develop your program. Visit our web site at www.envirosafeshop.com or call us at 800-288-3599.
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