Space Junk, Volcanoes, and Coal Tar Sealers: Industry Webinar to Stop Bans has Some Surprises
Photo from NASA Yesterday the Pavement Coatings Technology Council held an online seminar entitled, “How to Fight for Your Sealcoating Business.” During the 60 minute seminar participants were informed about two major topics: the Suffolk County, New York ban of coal tar pavement sealant and a presentation by a representative of the nation’s largest producer […]
Leading Public Works Group Hears the Truth about Coal Tar Sealcoat from the USGS
Coal tar sealant debris accumulating at the curb of a sealed parkinglot. This material presents an exposure hazard and may migrate to the streams, lakes and homes. Photo by USGS. This month the USGS presented the science of coal tar sealant pollution to one of the nation’s premier public works organizations, the APWA in their APWA Reporter magazine. The […]
Glowing Marks for Germany’s PAH Management and Action
Above photograph shows fluorescing PAHs absorbed through skin just by gripping a rubber handle with PAHs in the rubber. Similar effects on human skin can be seen with coal tar sealant exposure. Photograph: TÜV Rheinland Group The German Federation continues to demonstrate leadership to the world in managing exposure and contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This is […]
Is Coal Tar Trouble Brewing in Milwaukee?
It’s funny how sometimes seemingly unrelated, random things cross your desk and it makes you pause at the irony of it. Today was one of those days. The first was a government issued request for bids to manage a publicly-owned parking lot in Milwaukee. While not unusual, the bid called for the use of coal […]
Decoding the Coal Tar Sealant-to-Cancer Connection
A recent scientific journal came out with little attention or really no media coverage at all. While there may be a variety of reasons why, my hunch is that part of the reason is that it contains some pretty complex and difficult concepts to communicate. Well I thought I would try to decipher a bit […]
Renewed Calls For Statewide Ban of Coal Tar Sealants in Minnesota
The Rice Creek Watershed District is shown in the colored areas above. In spite of efforts throughout the State of Minnesota, calls continue for the uniform outlaw of the use of coal tar pavement sealcoats. For example in November a watershed management of group covering 4 urban and rural counties called for “a state-wide approach” […]
40 Brave Minnesota Sealant Applicators Take the Pledge to be Coal Tar Free
This just in from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) who is working to phase out the use of coal tar sealants both by encouraging bans of the harmful substance as well as asking applicators to voluntarily stop its use. I wanted to give credit to those applicators who have made this pledge by mentioning […]
Two More Minnesota Communities Pass Bans Last Night
Last night two Minnesota communities, Shorewood and Woodland, passed their final ordinance readings and enacted the 27th and 28th municipal bans of coal tar pavement products in the state. Both communities are situated on the southern shore of Lake Minnetonka. Woodland’s ban includes the prohibition to both apply and sell coal tar sealers.
2012 Coal Tar Freedom Review: American Emancipation Continues
2012 marked advancements in our understanding of the science of coal tar sealant pollution, greater legislative restrictions on its use and more extensive media coverage of the topic in popular press. Interestingly this week also commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Lincoln back in 1862. More on that after we look […]
New Coal Tar Sealer Ban in Texas Dwarfs “Big D” in Area
Details of November’s decision by the Edwards Aquifer Authority (EAA) to ban coal tar based sealants in sensitive areas are becoming a bit clearer now. Covering an area more than Big “D” Dallas itself and including approximately 60,000 citizens, this ban is the 4th largest in land area in the US to date. The ban […]