Drafter
Clerk 06/15/2011
Title
A MOTION seeking review of federal requirements to use coal-based tar sealants at county airport facilities.
Body
WHEREAS, coal tar-based sealants have been used in significant quantities nationwide on driveways, playgrounds and other pavement as a means of sealing outdoor pavement surfaces against penetration by water or other liquids, and
WHEREAS, coal tar compounds, which contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, are considered to be a human and animal carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, and
WHEREAS, coal tar-based sealants have been identified as a significant source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, carried from application sites to local streams, rivers and lakes through stormwater runoff, and
WHEREAS. The Washington Department of Ecology has adopted regulatory standards under the Model Toxics Control Act to control the impacts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as those associated with coal tar-based sealants, and
WHEREAS, a recent nationwide survey by the United States Geological Survey assessed levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in forty lakes nationwide, as well as the proportional contribution of coal tar-based sealants to the identified polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon levels, and found that about fifty percent of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found in lake sediments studied could be attributed to coal tar-based sealants, and
WHEREAS, attention to the toxic impacts of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons on the health of lakes and other water bodies, has raised the concern of residents, public health advocates, environmentalists and local governments in various parts of the nation, and
WHEREAS, in the 2011 legislative session, the Washington state Legislature approved, and the Governor signed, legislation enacting a statewide ban on the sale of coal tar-based sealants, and their use on driveways or parking areas
WHEREAS, local governments in Austin, Texas, Washing...

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