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Speaking of spills

hypocritexposer

Well-known member
While BP acts as if one of the worst oil disasters in history is no big problem, an Oxnard small-business owner finds himself in deep over a little spill that became a big production.

The incident started on an afternoon in late June when Steve Pettersen of No Regrets Painting upset a can of water-based paint inside his van, parked on a client’s driveway at Mandalay Bay.

Paint, once spilled, is harder to return to the can than worms. Nonetheless, Pettersen said, he was able to scoop up most of the contents of the toppled gallon and capture it in a container. A third-generation painter, he then sopped up the residue with rags, as he had learned to do through the process of getting his California contractor license.

Cleanups are messy affairs and a small quantity of the paint oozed onto the driveway. When it appeared the paint would stain his customer’s attractive and recently installed drive, he used the garden hose to rinse it off the pavement.

With the curb appeal restored, he went back into the house to complete the job.

A while later, he came outside to get something from his van and froze in his tracks.

Before his eyes were two firetrucks, each staffed by three firefighters, including paramedic and hazardous-materials specialists. There were two city of Oxnard code compliance officers. A Harbor Patrol vessel had been dispatched. A California Department of Fish and Game warden also responded. The scene was short only moon suits and a hovering helicopter.

In all, 13 public officials arrived on the scene.

Soon Pettersen was not a BP but an RP, as in responsible party, and a code compliance officer was impressing upon him the seriousness of the situation.

“Dude, you’re scaring me,” Pettersen recalls saying. “This is not BP.”

Because this neighborhood borders the harbor, anything in the storm drain goes directly into the sea. This is true anywhere in Southern California, but in this case it had to travel only 60 feet.

Responders discovered faint wisps of a whitish substance believed to be paint floating in the waterway nearby and proceeded to deploy a soft boom to keep the milky plumes from drifting into the main channel.

One problem: Since the paint was water-based, the boom could not soak it up.

After a few hours and much consultation, the decision was made to let nature take its course and to remove the boom when it was most likely that the tide would push the foreign substance out to sea, according to Oxnard Fire Battalion Chief Mike O’Malia, who responded to the incident.

Claire Lehr, the homeowner, was happy ocean pollution is taken seriously in this county but found the level of response “absurd.”

In the end, she said, officials carried away the evidence against Pettersen in a Mason jar that held “a dollop of color in it.”

This response was standard operating procedure, according to Steven Boychuck, of Oxnard code compliance. State regulations require nothing less, he said.

And a reasonable person has to ask: Was any living thing ever in danger?

The Fish and Game warden who responded had not returned my call by my deadline. But O’Malia, while emphasizing that he is no wildlife expert, said he saw no evidence any fish, seabirds or ocean mammals were imperiled by the spill.

Beyond that, manufacturers keep making paint greener. The can in question here — Dunn-Edwards Suprema — is labeled nontoxic.

Anything but clear water that goes into the ocean violates the law, O’Malia said, adding substances that are safe to humans can harm marine life.

So what was Pettersen supposed to do? Keep kitty litter nearby. Experts say that is the best way to soak up liquid spills.

By watering down the paint, Pettersen irrigated the problem, O’Malia said.

“Dilution is not the solution. By adding the water, he took a two-quart spill and expanded it to a 30- to 40- to 50-gallon hazardous discharge,” O’Malia told me.

What is happening in the Gulf to all the creatures of the sea is heartbreaking to watch. But I am also concerned about the survival of one of our threatened species — the small businessperson.

Pettersen believes he was made an example and that homeowners spill paint into storm drains every day in this county without being tarred with the gross polluter brush.

“They made it look like a circus. I was totally humiliated,” he said of the response.

The spill of aqua paint is going to put him in the red. He already has received a bill from the Oxnard Fire Department for $534. He also has been summoned to the Ventura County Hall of Justice to face charges he violated California Health and Safety Code. For that he faces up to $25,000 in penalties.

For small-businessman Steve Pettersen that is not exactly a drop in the bucket



Read more: http://www.vcstar.com/news/2010/jul/10/bp-in-oxnard-it-means-beleaguered-painter/#ixzz0uZgBUOtG
- vcstar.com
 
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