Hazmat fines

[B Aceves]

Originally Posted by Bill Harris

I was at Gainesville and was handed a package of information while sitting in the ridiculously slow moving line at the gate on Thursday AM. The company that has contracted with NHRA to manage our environmental compliance was essentially selling their services and products. The package included a NHRA release form which had to be signed and turned in to the trailer when you registered after tech (essentially indemnifying them from everything). The information in the package also included a copy of the relevant STATE (Florida) statute concerning hazardous materials and their disposal. My take on it was that at Gainesville it was primarily a state issue, not federal. There was also a statement from the NHRA on their policy toward environmental issues, which puts 100% of the responsibility on the "Participant". It also prohibits the use of any halogenated or chlorinated brake cleaners. The statement also requires that waste oil generated during the event must be disposed of through the licensed HazMat vendor at the track. The implication is that you are not supposed to take it with you.

The company representatives were friendly enough, but it was pretty obvious that they are also doing their best to profit from the situation. They take waste oil for a price, and the price is based on how contaminated the used oil is. If it is full of solvents, particularly chlorinated stuff, it costs the racer more to get rid of it. They charge for the test for contaminates and disposal of the oil . It cost $45 to set up an account which included two tests. It cost $35 for a drum of non-hazardous oil (or $0.75/gal) and went up to $425 for a badly contaminated drum (or $125 for 5 gal).

The included (and highlighted) Florida statute requires that any container with waste oil be clearly marked and in good condition. If it is not double-walled it must be stored on a secondary containment with 110% capacity. There is no mention of quantity so that would imply that if you drained 8 quarts of oil from your engine whatever container it is in would need a secondary containment with at least 8.8 quart volume. Wonder how many racers have that setup? Florida can bust you for not having the secondary containment and hit you with a misdemeanor with a $1000 fine and/or 6 months in the local rectal stretching facility.

Finally, I was parked across the road from the HazMat contractor, and I didn't see much activity over there, although there was plenty of product for sale and/or lease.

Ok that explains it all, Thanks Im off my soapbox now, BTW Thank you NHRA for giving me another reason to go Bracket Racing......what a joke

[7820]

Always happy to see another Pontiac racer move to brackets.

Another enhancement from NHRA.

[Jeff Teuton]

Just to show a real life situation, about 4 years ago the old Southland Dragway property was sold. The company that was doing the Phase 1 enviornmental is a company that I know and they asked that if I remembered if they had waste oil containers back in that day. I found some old photos, and in a couple, there are the containers. This was about 30 years after it sold. Did someone get fined at Gainesville?

[Rick Bailey]

Bill Harris,
Thank-you for your great and informational report. By reading, we now have a better idea what where up aginst.

Sounds like some of us northern racers will have a little time to figure out the container deal, if it even applies to some of the states north of Fla.

Sounds like the safe thing to do is just do your maintaince @ home.

Rick

[magnumv8]

The next issue is "cradle to grave"....under any hazardous waste rulings the people who collect the materials from the participants MUST have a record of when, from who, what the material was and the quantity deposited, so that when they are audited they have the proper paperwork to cover their own butt.....now, if these people (the waste collectors) for some reason do something other than proper recycling or disposal of the waste fluids the FEDS go to the records and takes the list of names and divides the cost of the evironmental disaster( the FEDS term) cleanup and sends a bill to everyone on that list of names....

Safety Kleen charges pretty large fees for disposal of wastes but the fees are cheaper than the fines and they are about the best for making sure your butt is covered....I had a company that would pay me by the gallon for my waste oil,but I had no guarantee what was happening with the waste oil and if it would ever come back to haunt me....

Cradle to Grave means if you generate the waste product you are responsible for it FOREVER no matter where it goes until it is properly disposed of or recycled......


D L Rambo....

[Keith 944]

Originally Posted by magnumv8

The next issue is "cradle to grave"....under any hazardous waste rulings the people who collect the materials from the participants MUST have a record of when, from who, what the material was and the quantity deposited, so that when they are audited they have the proper paperwork to cover their own butt.....now, if these people (the waste collectors) for some reason do something other than proper recycling or disposal of the waste fluids the FEDS go to the records and takes the list of names and divides the cost of the evironmental disaster( the FEDS term) cleanup and sends a bill to everyone on that list of names....

Safety Kleen charges pretty large fees for disposal of wastes but the fees are cheaper than the fines and they are about the best for making sure your butt is covered....I had a company that would pay me by the gallon for my waste oil,but I had no guarantee what was happening with the waste oil and if it would ever come back to haunt me..

Cradle to Grave means if you generate the waste product you are responsible for it FOREVER no matter where it goes until it is properly disposed of or recycled......


D L Rambo....

yep, and a lot of people do not know this! i hold a hazmat class a licence, wonder if it would keep me free of fines, lol..

[Jeff Teuton]

Think about this. Bring an extra 5 gal can, or one of those Wal Mart oil change plastic pans that you can seal up. If you need to change your oil, then keep the stuff and bring it to one of the places at your home town to get rid of it. The pro's are the ones with the trouble on this. Especially the fuel guys. What do you do with your oil when you change it at home? Do the same thing with the oil from the track.

[RACER1530]

smells like nhra is making money off this somehow
just like throwing good parts out because of a date on a tag
PURE B.S.

[Bret Kepner]

Originally Posted by B Aceves

Thank you NHRA for giving me another reason to go Bracket Racing......what a joke

What makes you think local tracks won't eventually become a target for similar legislation...or worse?

[Sean Kennedy]

The way I read the explanation, it gives me the impression we are not supposed to take the oil off site and recycle it ourselves. Am I correct in this understanding?

My old man and I have always been good about this, we ALWAYS save out oil... at home and the track... and take it to a parts store to be recycled.

This is nuts.