Article Concerning Reclaiming

[John T 744]

Here's an article concerning Reclaiming on the West Coast. Is it possible that a guy like this could be tipping off the authorities not for the right reasons but to only make $$$$ ?? Just wondering

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20040103-9999_7m3clean.html

[One Call Power Wash 500]

I will tell you this. I believe in reclaiming when neccessary. And that depends on what chemicals you are pushing through. We probable reclaim about 25% of the time.

This guy seems to be only in it for himself. Only after reading the article did I make this assumption. I would not want to be in his shoes. He is lucky to have the 3 million in insurance, I think he will probable need it.

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

For those who want to read it here and not click to a site with pop-ups....

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San Diego to crack down on wastewater disposal

By Terry Rodgers

UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

January 3, 2004

The sun is about to set on the cowboy era of mobile power washing, an industry once unfettered by government regulation but now facing tough restrictions on disposal of wastewater.

The city of San Diego began enforcing more stringent regulations Thursday that require pressure wash operators to recapture their wash water.

"For too long, it's been like the Wild West out there," said Marvin Winters, a 38-year-old retired U.S. Marine who has built a power-washing empire in just two years.

The regulations are part of an unprecedented local effort initiated three years ago to reduce urban runoff, random sources of water that carry pollutants to waterways and the ocean.

The tightening of the rules was triggered by Winters' complaint to the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board that the city was too lenient.

Winters is not worried that the tougher regulations will make power washing more costly and complicated for the estimated 300 such businesses in the county.

He wants to upgrade the industry's price structure and force undercapitalized, less sophisticated competitors out of business.

"The days of charging $75 to clean a parking lot are over," he said.

Stricter regulations combined with tougher enforcement, he said, should help weed out irresponsible operators who habitually allow their wastewater to flow into storm drains, which flow directly into streams, rivers and the sea. Even moderately soapy water causes a range of negative effects on fish and wildlife.

"It's going to force a lot of guys out of business because they don't have the money to upgrade their equipment or they won't want to spend the money," he said.

Winter said his company, Sure Clean Power Washing Inc., uses some of the industry's more advanced equipment. His custom-made, $70,000 mobile power-washing rigs can vacuum up, filter and recycle the dirty wash water.

He competes against energetic rookies with pickups who go into business with their sweat equity and less than $3,000 in power-washing equipment.

He admits his attempts to restructure the industry have made him a pariah among his peers. In fact, he has been known to gather evidence of other power washers violating the regulations and alert authorities.

"They would love for me to go away," he said.

As Winters' business grew to cleaning several thousand locations statewide, he said, he noticed that many of his competitors were ignoring pollution laws and getting away with it.

The region's urban runoff regulations are contained in a 58-page permit issued in February 2001 by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board. But the complicated rules can be boiled down to this: With few exceptions, nothing but rain should enter storm drains.

The rules on runoff apply to all 18 cities in the county, the San Diego Unified Port District and most of the county west of the mountains in the Cleveland National Forest.

Stacy Gaczkowski of the regional board said her agency allows each jurisdiction to conduct pollution prevention programs in whatever manner it wishes. The state intervenes only if there is a complaint or obvious deficiency.

Poway and Chula Vista, for instance, do pollution and code enforcement on weekends, but San Diego does not.

Until this year, the city of San Diego allowed dirty water from the cleaning of sidewalks and other public spaces to drain down the gutter as long as a filtration pad was placed over the storm drain inlet.

Six months ago, after failing to persuade the city to tighten its policy, Winters challenged the city's interpretation of the law by filing a complaint with the state's regional water-quality agency.

The city was being too lenient, Winters argued, because the filtration pads were never tested for their effectiveness in blocking pollutants from entering the storm drain. "The city was taking a shortcut and not enforcing the law," Winters said.

The city's policy, he argued, favored those who specialized in cleaning public areas, such as sidewalks, but not power washers who clean private property. State regulators this summer upheld Winters' complaint and ordered the city to enforce its existing prohibition against disposing of wash water in storm drains.

Karen Larson Henry, chief of the city's storm water pollution program, said Winters was so persistent with his numerous complaints about the city's enforcement policy that he "wore us out." Ironically, Winters company was cited last year for allowing wash water to drain into the gutter at a shopping center. None of the wastewater reached the storm drain.

"We were doing what we thought was both reasonable and protective of the environment," Henry said of the policy that was overturned. "The staff of the regional water quality board had a different opinion."

Allowing the city flexibility in its enforcement is more practical in the current era of austere government budgets, she argued.

Henry said she has only five enforcement officers and wants them to focus on more egregious pollution violations than those typically caused by power washers.

The city attorney was willing to defend her policy, Henry said, "but I decided this wasn't the one to fight."

State regulators agreed to a six-month moratorium on enforcement so the city could sponsor a series of workshops to educate power washers on the tighter regulations and allow equipment to be upgraded. The moratorium ended Thursday.

Under the new rules, power washers must capture their dirty wash water before it reaches the gutter. Filtered wash water free of oil, solvents or hazardous chemicals can be properly disposed of in the sanitary sewer system or, in many cases, simply poured over a grassy landscaped area.

Power washers who ignore the rules can be fined $100 for the first offense and up to $250 for a second violation.

Fines are higher if the discharge involves a detergent, de-greaser or other chemical. Jack In The Box, for instance, was fined $7,811 in 2002 for washing a de-greaser into the storm drain at one of its fast-food outlets.

San Diego attorney Wayne Rosenbaum, a national expert in storm water regulation, said the efforts here to reduce urban runoff pollution are considered to be among the most innovative and strict in the state. "Slowly but surely we have seen the San Diego municipal storm water permit become the model for other regions in California as they adopt their own permits," he said.

Rosenbaum said he anticipates the focus on controlling polluted wash water will spur innovation.

"Over the next year we'll get smarter about how to do it in the most economical way," he said.

Will Berry of the nonprofit Clean and Safe Program, which power washes sidewalks in downtown San Diego for business improvement districts, said the stricter rules on wash water disposal will require more work and take more time.

"It's not for us to debate it," he said. "It's up to us to fulfill the expectations. It's something we can live with, for sure."

Jerry McMillen, whose Santee-based Cleaning System Specialists manufactures and sells the more advanced equipment now required, favors the new rules and believes they will help the industry mature.

"It's smart for us to be environmentally friendly," said McMillen. "We should have been controlling our wash water over the last 20 years and we weren't doing it."

But the power washing industry's day of reckoning could be traumatic for those who flourished during its anything-goes era, he said.

"They're asking an industry that has had little regulation to suddenly be perfectionists at wash water control," he said. "There will be broken hearts as well as pocketbooks."

[Beth n Rod 1,279]

This is a HUGE issue. It will get tougher by state before it gets better. Everyone needs to be aware of how their own state plans to carry out the Federal EPA Laws.

If you have links to your own state regs, please start a thread for your state and put the link in it so that others may learn what they need to do to comply.

Beth :groovy3:

[Mike Williamson 198]

He's come right out and said he's doing this to drive competition out of business. The insurance he needs to worry about getting is life insurance.

[Jon 533]

I would not be a bit surprised that he goes around taking pictures of others just to run them out of business.

Do not let him take the claim for San Deigo County enforcing the rules, they have been doing it for a few years, fleet washers have to demo their equipment before getting a permit which they need to wash fleets and the fleet owner has to have a copy posted where it can be seen.

Sounds like someone who drives a yellow truck that goes around taking pictures too!

His kind the industry does not need, really and I bet he does not reclaim every single job he does but try and catch him, get pictures of him not doing it and turn those in to the city, sit back and watch the fireworks show.

What is truly strange is he links that post with Sparkle a national franchise, wonder if he is one and just not listed?

[Grant 500]

Wouldn't it be good for all of his competitors to take turns and follow him around for a month or two and take pictures and document everything he does...everyone slips up and gets careless at some point, whether intentional or not

[stoppie101 20]

does anyone know the rules for indiana? or where i can go to find out?

[paul-uk 500]

whats your name????....anyway try here and have search round yourself....

http://www.in.gov/idem/ goto search and type water reclaim.

http://oaspub.epa.gov/webi/meta_first_new2.try_these_first

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G27661F27

http://makeashorterlink.com/?G27661F27

http://business.superpages.com/business/Oil+Reclaiming.html

check these out..should lead you to where you want to be

cheers paul.

http://www.epa.gov/epahome/commsearch.htm

[One Tough Pressure 580]

http://www.epa.gov/region5/

[Jon 533]

Grant I agree 100% with you and he is no exception, I bet he cuts corners every chance he gets too.

He does admit to getting caught and paying a fine, but most times the first time caught is a warning, either verbal or written so he must have been caught doing something truly bad to have been fined the first time.

OR was it not the first time and that is why he paid a fine, that is my guess.

[stoppie101 20]

thanks!