A visit by the Enviro-cops today

[big mike]

Me and a worker were on a big job today, and had a visit from the county environmental compliance officer. We are in the process of removing old peeling latex paint from 5 apartment buildings, using turbo nozzles and hot water. White paint chips everywhere, and someone called thinking lead paint. The guy strolled right up to me in a caution zone with no protective gear on, and told me to shut down my equipment. I was 45' up on a lift, and when I came down, I chewed him a new one for violating the work zone. Anyway, he says "we got an anonymous call about lead paint". I told him it was less than ten years old, but he didn't buy it. I ended up calling the general contractor running the job, and he produced the documents showing the test results as negative for lead.

Just wanted to share this as proof that these folks do exist, and are not afraid to show their authority. Be aware of what you're working with, and have documentation to back yourself up. He was ready to shut us down on a more permanent basis if need be. Kind of eye opening, since I have never seen any enforcement of any kind up here. I think it may have been a competitor who didn't get the job that called it in, but who knows?

[plainpainter]

It use to be if you grinded lead, or sanded. Now I guess you can't even pressure wash a home to remove paint. I had a potential customer that wanted me to do his job of scraping and sanding. I told him there was no way I was going to send lead based paint chips everywhere in this day in age. Not to mention - these homes are a flaking mess - so the chip they pick up and test which fell off by itself a few years ago will be blamed on you.

[Ron Musgraves]

great tip Mike

[814jeffw]

[quote=I chewed him a new one for violating the work zone. [/quote]


I agree, they should be compliant of the work zone, but with that being said, if you embarrassed him, he may figure a way to get "it" back if you ever cross paths again. Kinda' like being a jerk to the policeman , in the end they can and always find something, and they don't forget.

Jeff

[Beth n Rod]

What an idiot. Didn't he know what lead exposure could do to him if he was in the zone unprotected? Believe it or not home owners sometimes DO make those calls. A few years ago we had one call the local water authority on us. When he arrived (they carry guns around here) it was easy to prove compliance, but it was still a hassle to have to stop and waste time talking about a non-issue to begin with.

Beth

[big mike]

Well, I don't think I embarrassed him, but I did let him know that he violated several OSHA safety rules by walking under the caution tape perimeter, and directly under my lift. Not to mention my worker was less than ten feet away from him using a turbo nozzle with hot water, blasting directly at a brick surface. The chips, mortar, and brick fragments, make it feel like your sandblasting. We are wearing full protective gear, head to toe. I just felt that he should be aware of the safety concerns, being a compliance officer and all.

[Scott Stone]

You should report him to his boss. When they cross your workzone line, you are liable. They seem to forget sometimes that they really are not ten feet tall and bullet proof.

If he tries to get even with you, slap him with harassment. He will be personally liable for that.

[billrt]

Nice heads up . You might just let this one go and say to yourself
Wow I got lucky this time. No one needs a ticket. It is great to hear you run a pro job site.
Well done
Bill
Regan and Son Power Washing

[MMI Enterprises]

Are these lead paint rules similar to fed water rules in that as long as it is not heading offsite into waterway it is ok? I mean are you allowed to remove and then procede to clean up the chips from bare land or plastic underneith? I understand the water heading into waterways or uncompliant spraying of high VOC stuff but I fail to see a reasoning behind not being able to remove or work on something on provate property if it don't effect anybod else. Yes safety rules like respirators and protective gear should be involved. Job has to be done somehow right?

[jbruno]

Originally Posted by big mike

Well, I don't think I embarrassed him, but I did let him know that he violated several OSHA safety rules by walking under the caution tape perimeter, and directly under my lift. Not to mention my worker was less than ten feet away from him using a turbo nozzle with hot water, blasting directly at a brick surface. The chips, mortar, and brick fragments, make it feel like your sandblasting. We are wearing full protective gear, head to toe. I just felt that he should be aware of the safety concerns, being a compliance officer and all.

Just a wierd thing I'm reading into here... you're using a turbo nozzle to remove paint from brick. How much damage is the brick getting?? Are you using any chems??

[big mike]

Just a wierd thing I'm reading into here... you're using a turbo nozzle to remove paint from brick. How much damage is the brick getting?? Are you using any chems??

James,
The turbo nozzles were used to remove 5-7 layers of old peeling latex paint. We were not going for full (100%) removal, just trying for about 75% on all of the surfaces. The greatest concern was not removing too much of the mortar joints, so they wouldn't have to go in and tuckpoint behind us. It ended up with an "old used brick" or Chicago brick look, which they then added faux copper siding panels adjacent to. Looks OK, but I personally didn't care for it. Customer was very happy with the results. These were old apartment buildings constructed with old used bricks.

No chemicals were used in the process, just water. We had 2 rigs running 8-10 hrs a day, 5 days a week for 3 1/2 weeks. One guy on a lift (me), the other on the ground. Grossed just over 23K - $1600 in gas, $2100 for lift rental, $2500 in wages, $500 in misc supplies and equipment. We made out well, but it was very physical work and I'm still recovering.