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Misdirected environa~nentalists <br />use asphalt contractors as brooms <br />There's a world of difference between tar and asphalt <br />nvironmentalistsdnn't <br />particularly like <br />highways, or the idea <br />of highways, or the azphalt they're <br />made of, or the plants that make the hot <br />mixer the outfits the paving crews wear. <br />The environmentally fashionable posture <br />is to sncer at road-building and highway <br />development, while encouraging <br />environmentally popular positions such az mass transit <br />programs and bicycle paths. <br />Environmentalists threaten azphalt contractors, and the <br />industry az a whole, because they often don't understand it very <br />well. In many cases, they ate confused by asphalt-they get it <br />mixed up with tar, or try to regulate it az a petroleum produc4 <br />because they don't understand what it is. <br />They figure, when oil spills on the ocean, that's clearly bad, so <br />therefore, when asphalt is in the environment-whether by <br />accident or design, that must be bad, too. <br />Unfortunately, there is not yet an environmental clearinghouse <br />where someone with some common sense is paid to look at the <br />big picture and balance the regulatory requirements. There is no <br />azsttrance that the au regulations won't clash with the water <br />regulations. <br />One of the best examples of this clazhing is the Clean Air Act <br />ratcheting down emissions Gmits, while the new highway bill is <br />requiring azphalt contractors to toss scrap tires into the <br />miz...scrap tires that can cause havoc with emissions Icvels at <br />the plant. <br />One contractor reported that regulators on the fifth floor of the <br />county adminisvation building were threatening to close him <br />down because an asphalt tank had a fill problem and leaked <br />some liquid asphalt into the soil at his plant site. At the same <br />time, county officials on the third Floor of the same building <br />were trying to see if the convector could produce asphalt <br />pavement incorporating petroleum contaminated soil into the <br />mix! They can't have it both ways. <br />Incredible az it seems, Uterc arc a lot of people out there, in <br />responsible positions of power, who arc confused about asphalt <br />and the environment. <br />Taken jram a talk delivered by Susan Parker, editor ojSoils <br />Magazine (a sitter publication ojAsphalr Contractor <br />Magazine) at the 20th annual paving seminar ojthe <br />Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association. <br />You may find yourself in <br />a position to have to explain <br />asphalt to local regulatory people and <br />citiun groups. Many don't understand that, <br />yes, asphalt is derived from cmde petroleum, <br />but az the non-volatile fraction, asphalt <br />behaves differently than the lighter <br />fractions. It is a naturally occurring <br />substance with unique properties that prevent it from leaching <br />and migrating in the environment <br />They may not rcaliu that az far back az 6,000 B.C., <br />shipbuilders used azphalt to caulk and waterproof their boats. <br />Ancient Mesopotamians used asphalt for pipelines and <br />plumbing fixtures to carry drinking water. And, because some <br />of these swctures are subterranean, they have survived for over <br />2,000 years, and are still functioning to this day. <br />It might surprise some to team that since the 1950s, in highly <br />populated pans of California, people have been drinking water <br />which haz been stored in azphalt reservoirs. <br />Another concept that is often misunderstood is the two-part <br />namrc of an environmental hazard. Firs4 it must be determined <br />whether a substance is hazardous to human health. In the case <br />of azphalt, yes, it does contain components that could be <br />hazardous to humans-if they had a way into the human <br />system. But, that is the second factor~ransport-and studies <br />have proved that asphalt does not have a pathway into the <br />human system. Since it is waterproof, it does not leach into <br />drinking water. And, there are no rcpons of humans eating <br />azphalt products. <br />Not only does asphalt behave itself in the cnvironrnent without <br />presenting hazards to human health, azphalt products actually <br />make a variety of valuable contributions to the quality of the <br />environment. <br />One environmentally friendly (unction of asphalt that is <br />getting a lot of attention is the notion of combining azphalt with <br />peroleum contaminated soils for use az secondary paving <br />material and for landfill liners and caps. More landfill operators <br />are becoming attracted to the idea that instead of mining virgin <br />28 March 1993 asphalt contractor <br />