California has dry cleaners? Who knew?
Posted on 04/13/2011 12:03:41 PM PDT by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
California dry cleaners will have to find alternative chemicals to remove sweat and grit from garments and other dry-clean items, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved the state’s proposal to ban the use of the perchloroethylene (PERC), a liquid solvent commonly used in the dry cleaning industry. EPA’s decision means California will have more stringent restrictions than those laid down by the EPA nationwide.
PERC has been on the chopping block in California since 2007 when the California Air Resources Board (ARB) adopted the Airborne Toxic Control Measure that will gradually phase out the use of PERC by Jan 1, 2023.
No Human Health Impacts PERC is identified as a hazardous air pollutant by EPA and the California Air Resource Board (ARB). The dose, however, makes the poison, and EPA data have not supported bans on the useful cleaning solvent.
American Council on Science and Health president and founder Elizabeth Whelan says there is no evidence PERC is harming human health.
“There’s no evidence whatsoever that PERC has ever hurt anyone. Yet it’s on the environmentalist’s list of targets,” Whelan said.
Phased-In Restrictions EPA’s approval of the California ARB regulation applies throughout the state except for incorporated cities within four counties regulated by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (AQMD). The AQMD has a PERC ban of its own in the works.
The ARB restrictions also address manufacturers and distributors of PERC. Manufacturers that sell PERC for dry cleaning use in California must keep monthly sales records and report to California ARB their distributors' contact information and any subsequent changes to that information.
Unnecessary Economic Harm “California is in its own little world,” said Whelan. “They’re paying dearly for this in terms of their economy failing. There are people leaving the state to work in Arizona, where they can escape these ridiculous rules.
“Part of the problem is not only the extreme environmentalists but also scientists in California who know better but who are not banging on the doors of the legislators and saying, ‘Let me tell you the scientific truth about this.’ They’re just mute,” Whelan observed.
Now California is gonna smell like a third world country.
Nanny State PING!
Going French, are they?
California has dry cleaners? Who knew?
Grew up in the dry cleaning business.
There have been solid alternatives to Perc for 30 years.
Banning it though, doesn’t make much sense. Perc is expensive, most dry cleaners have extensive systems to recover and recycle the perc form each load of clothing. Very little actually makes it into the atmosphere.
At least this is the feds agreeing with a decision made by the state and not the feds making demands of the state.
BTW, perc is made from chlorine, and is no more “evironmentally dangerous” than the chlorox bleach you buy at the supermarket.
PREC is not widely used in Ca better and cheaper replacements have been found years ago. This is more of a feel good thing for the enviro nuts and it’s worth taking the time to fight.
Damn just ban Gasoline as well as it evaporates also.
Next in line ... deodorant. Why not soap? Why not toothpaste? I’m sure they all contribute to global warming. CA is about to sink into the abyss and they concentrate on this. May their empty suits fill their noses.
That stinks.
Or, at any rate, it WILL stink — a couple of weeks after the ban goes in to effect.
...and I heard from a reliable source that Carbon Dioxide is a POLLUTANT, don’t you know!!!
Let’s see, hmm. A book about Dry Cleaners and the EPA.
I Know I read about it somewhere...
It’s all good...illegal aliens don’t need no stinking dry cleaners.
Maybe they’re agreeing with it to establish precedent for a nationwide ban.
I was just at the grocery store here in TN, and overheard a older woman talking to two college kids (read: 3 liberals), and as I passed, I heard her say in a nasally yankee whine “we had it really good out in California until Schwarzenegger came along and screwed everything up”. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut. I had to settle for giving her the “you are a friggin idiot” look.
I went out on a date (in 2004) with a woman from California. She said she was embarrassed that Schwarzenegger was elected in the recall vote. Little did she know that, some years later, I would be embarrassed right alongside her.
I remember telling her that I didn’t like Schwarzenegger much at the time. There was an energy bill pending; I told her what my plan for energy was (government does nothing); she probably thought I was mad.
Did I mention that she went on a tour in Cuba?
It was our only date.
Hmm.. Sounds like a business opportunity.
Lease an old cruise ship. Staff it with illegals. Have it come into port in LA and SF twice a week. Drop off cleaned clothes. Pick up soiled. Head 12 miles out to sea and do the dry cleaning, folding and ironing there.
No federal regulations. No state regulations. No minimum wage. No OSHA. And the SF and LA population will pay double for the dry cleaning than they do now.
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