Tank Cleaning Rules Spark Dispute
“Effluent,” the stuff coming out of tank trailers as they are being cleaned, is about to be regulated as never before, but the haulers say the federal government is writing a big price tag based on faulty research.
But National Tank Truck Carriers, which represents the industry sector, said EPA is shooting at shadows. Among the targeted chemicals are pesticides that most truckers never deal with, said NTTC President Clifford J. Harvison. Some of the toxic material EPA claims to have found, such as DDT, have not been manufactured in the United States since the 1980s, he asserted.
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By the Environmental Protection Agency’s own estimate, the tank truck industry may have to shell out more than $20 million a year for new pollution-control gear, such as special cleaning and filtering equipment, to comply with the agency’s rules, due by June 15. That deadline will be met, said John Tinger, program manager in charge of the new regulations at EPA.
The agency’s goal is to remove toxic residue from the wastewater flushed from tanks by the cleaning process.
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