FORCED To Reclaim on Fundraiser Car Wash

Our Church is have a fund raiser car wash this month and I am volunteering my services again to them.
The county where the car wash are requiring all the water be reclaimed and deposed at their facility.
Today I met with them to show I had the proper equipment to reclaim properly and had to demonstrate to them that my equipment was fully compliant within their guidelines.
They gave me a letter of certification to work in their city along with a manifest log that I have to fill out and return to them on monthly basis.
They informed me if anyone was caught dumping waste water, it was a automatic $1,000.00 fine, if caught not reclaiming... they would give a warning first then could be fined $1,000.00 after first warning.
He told me like it or not "Change is Coming"
Funny thing is we had a car wash about month ago in same county and it was not enforced because it was not within city limits.
Newton County is right behind Gwenette County.
 
If they are behind Gwenette County your in trouble in GA. That county will get reversed just like the 8 or 9 that did the same.

Al, you cant comply under there quidelines. I sat in the Atlanta meeting an your city official said no PW. (period) She said if she saw them PW she would fine them not 1000 but 10,000.

Al How many Jobs have you done in the last FIVE years in Gwenette County practicing the laws? Please be honest to this hard and tough question. 4? 6? 2?
 
I looked up (Gwenette County) on map.......their must be more to to the story of why this county has any significants in relationship to pressure washing business .......is their a firestorm brewing there that would cause problems in other states /or cities ? :confused:
 
Ron, no need to compared what I did past 5 yrs or where we will be in 5 years, just letting the guys know what they told me TODAY, Not saying it is right or wrong or if I agree or disagree.
Just telling the guys about my Day!


Al, i have talked with just about all the Gwenette County certified contractors that are in business. I can't count 4 jobs between them,of course the ones that are gone I cant speak with.

I'm sorry Al for putting you on the spot, this was and injustice done to you and your business. You seem to want it to work and its not going to Al.

This has happened in 8 or 9 places and eventually they realized it was wrong. Lets hope Gwenette County realizes this and the other county your talking about doesnt make the same mistake.

AL, the BMP was BAD...Written by someone that doesnt own reclaim equipment. Still does not own equipment. The man who wrote the BMP moved up the city ladder because he got the FED dollars and now is higher up and removed from that DEPT. (DID you Know I knew all that)
 
The BMP's for the area around Atl and surrounding areas need to be revamped.They were put in place without due diligence on many of the participating counties parts.
They took the advice of a self proclaimed expert and allowed them to help co-write the reclaim standards.
Unfortunately they were blinded by BS and didn't notice the self proclaimed experts only interest in writing the BMP's was to eliminate the competition.Which from my understanding many companies closed up shop vs. spending money on reclaim equipment.
Further more who in these counties is qualified to tell you that your equipment is right or wrong?
 
AL, the BMP was BAD...Written by someone that doesnt own reclaim equipment. Still does not own equipment. The man who wrote the BMP moved up the city ladder because he got the FED dollars and now is higher up and removed from that DEPT. (DID you Know I knew all that)
yeah I knew you knew that, I believe you told me that the very first night you called me!!!!
;)
 
The BMP's for the area around Atl and surrounding areas need to be revamped.They were put in place without due diligence on many of the participating counties parts.
They took the advice of a self proclaimed expert and allowed them to help co-write the reclaim standards.
Unfortunately they were blinded by BS and didn't notice the self proclaimed experts only interest in writing the BMP's was to eliminate the competition.Which from my understanding many companies closed up shop vs. spending money on reclaim equipment.
Further more who in these counties is qualified to tell you that your equipment is right or wrong?


We want to be responsible but not ridiculous. Scott your on target and they sold a few pieces of equipment.

Robert H realized this long ago this actually hurt his revenue stream. This is why they changed there tune and how they write BMP's responsibly.
 
yeah I knew you knew that, I believe you told me that the very first night you called me!!!!
;)


Instead of advocating this Al you should be a poster Contractor for injustice to our industry. Contractor in MI seeked compenstation from the citys who chose this irresponsible methods. A county in MI wrote an apology letter to the people it hurt and now have a responsible BMPin practice.

Russ S is a guy you should call, he is involved in some countys in your area and might be able to give you names of people that might introduce to your county and cit officials help. I know Russ has major involvement in the south because his lively hood relys on it.
 
FORCED To Reclaim on Fundraiser Car Wash

Vehicle cleaning is a completly different animal, your county has likley had rules and regs on this in place for decades.

Vehicle Washing

Washing vehicles is an example of a process water discharge of pollutants requiring an NPDES permit if it reaches waters of the United States. EPA recommends that companies or individuals take their vehicles to car washes*. If a car wash is not available, NPDES permit requirements may be avoided and impacts on waters of the United States minimized if vehicles are washed in a vegetated or grassy area where the wash water will be absorbed into the ground instead of allowing it to run into the street and then into a storm drain. There may be additional requirements if chemicals (detergents, waxes, etc.) are improperly used or if the absorbed water will reach an underground water body.
carwash.jpg
<SMALL>*A properly operated car wash discharges all of its wash water to a municipal sanitary sewer system that treats the wastewater before discharging from the wastewater treatment plant to waters of the U.S. Most municipalities have a pretreatment program requiring car washes to perform some type of pretreatment such as discharging through a sand filter and grease trap. </SMALL>

 
Instead of advocating this Al you should be a poster Contractor for injustice to our industry. Contractor in MI seeked compenstation from the citys who chose this irresponsible methods. A county in MI wrote an apology letter to the people it hurt and now have a responsible BMPin practice.

Russ Spence is a guy you should call, he is involved in some countys in your area and might be able to give you names of people that might introduce to your county and cit officials help. I know Russ has major involvement in the south because his lively hood relys on it.

Ron, as you know, I have around 30k invested in my reclaim, Even though I don't use it much, I really don't want it to become obsolete piece of equipment.
As of right now, just having this equipment in sets me apart from my competition even if its not being used.
A letter of apology wont help me get a return on my investment.
 
Ron, as you know, I have around 30k invested in my reclaim, Even though I don't use it much, I really don't want it to become obsolete piece of equipment.
As of right now, just having this equipment in sets me apart from my competition even if its not being used.
A letter of apology wont help me get a return on my investment.

Neither will others buying equipment to sit and do nothing. But your willing to allow others to get hurt and do nothing?
 
Al did the county official issue you a waste haulers permit along ith the cert, and manifest?
Not only will you be picking up the wash water,but anything that's already on the ground unless you plan on using wash mat.


Even if he uses a matt he could still be picking up mercury ,Arc nick & who knows what other unknown contaminates you might be picking up.

I know you know this Scott because we have been watching and fighting this by ourselves for years.
 
Al did the county official issue you a waste haulers permit along ith the cert, and manifest?
Not only will you be picking up the wash water,but anything that's already on the ground unless you plan on using wash mat.

no waste haulers permit, however I did mention that to him with all the other concerns I have heard on this board, he even agreed its overkill, but he says RIGHT NOW its his job to find violators and he will fine them if they don't try to comply.
 
Al did the county official issue you a waste haulers permit along ith the cert, and manifest?
Not only will you be picking up the wash water,but anything that's already on the ground unless you plan on using wash mat.


Waste water permit, what about calibration and cross contamination. What about all the other aspects of handling hazordous materials.

They set you up for larger fines than 1000 bucks if you lived and competed with me.

Al, your a nice guys that got sold a dream. Jim out in cali is hurting the industry because he is selling this hype when it only will work in certain areas and sistuations.

If you read my response to car washes i use my equipment to comply and help the community. Al I have way more invested than you and it sits and collects dust most of the time. When it moves i get good money, but I cant make a living with 30,000 equipment.
 
no waste haulers permit, however I did mention that to him with all the other concerns I have heard on this board, he even agreed its overkill, but he says RIGHT NOW its his job to find violators and he will fine them if they don't try to comply.

You wont be getting that fine from him, your DOT will get you. If you have and accident your insurance company will pay a real eviro contractor to clean the mess up. he will have something around 350,000 to take care of your spill. It will still go to a pretreatment facilty.
 
Neither will others buying equipment to sit and do nothing. But your willing to allow others to get hurt and do nothing?

I am going to have to plead the 5th on this one Ron, I got to many friends on the board, no matter what I answer people they are going to be someone who not going to agree with my answer.
 
Ron, as you know, I have around 30k invested in my reclaim, Even though I don't use it much, I really don't want it to become obsolete piece of equipment.
As of right now, just having this equipment in sets me apart from my competition even if its not being used.
A letter of apology wont help me get a return on my investment.

Al, you are a great guy. I've got nothing but respect for you. But do you hear what you are saying here? I've never met you, but I've spoken with you and I think I know the kind of man you are and I'm sure you believe everything you are saying is for the betterment of others on the board.

I feel the same way about Jim. He is a very good friend of mine who I also respect. But my disagreement with Jim is firm. The disagreement is that we should fall, hook line and sinker for the reclaim/filter sales technique that threatens to bring our industry down to non-existence.

What about the permit to haul hazardous waste?

Why, if in Contra Costa County, (one of the most strict counties according to Jim) proper reclaim consists of a "kit" with a sump pump to pump to grass or the sewer, is there even a market for a 12,000 lb vacuum cleaner on wheels to do the same thing?

Why aren't we fighting this tooth and nail?

Why isn't the UAMCC down there in your county fighting for sensible BMP's?

Where is the representation for our industry.

I'll tell you where it is. It's bent over, and hoping for at least a hug afterwards.
 
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