Well, we must say yes to this title in order to not be slandered as hating our government, which we don’t. However, progress is never a bargain-you have to pay for it. When President Nixon signed the legislation in 1970 for the long sought department of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), various other departments of energy and what not have spun off of this legislation. We continue to have states such as California, Florida and New York that have stricter, but apparently necessary, rules to follow for drycleaners using any solvent.
To be sure, all solvents are scrutinized and will be held accountable to the EPA; even water is not safe from bureaucracy! The real purpose of this system of checks and balances was designed to keep the big boy polluters under check due to their neglect and sometimes purposeful trashing of the environment just to save money. But that was long ago. Nixon was a visionary and had the best in mind when he signed this legislation but several states and local authorities have blown it all out of proportion.
Failure Of Membership In Associations Are Partly To Blame
We drycleaners are the little guys, not some company that is a multibillion-dollar solvent making industry. We have been caught in the trap and we have no means of battling this monster because we have no funds due to lack of membership in national, state and local drycleaning association’s. No funds! No lobbying power! More grief!
Many lawyers have stayed busy representing on behalf of so many drycleaners nationwide than you can imagine. Ask any number of one hundred or so drycleaners in the state of California alone, beginning with Harry Boucher of Turlock, California. He can tell you the saddest story there is, of a man spending money to represent himself in a battle against a privately owned water board. And all because of things he did not do. Again, we are a small industry and when pitted against the big boy industries, we get stuck with the blame and the bills.
Every attorney I have worked with over the years did their best to help the drycleaner, but without the backing of our industry as a whole, this attorney and his drycleaning client are hanging in the wind to try and defend themselves alone. Occasionally I still hear of drycleaners who illegally dump what is known as “hazardous waste” in illegal places. We share some of the blame too for trying to cut corners. Our interpretation of hazardous waste is not necessarily what the feds or the states think it is. Hence, if you believe any solvent won’t create hazardous waste, you need to wake up and smell the taters frying. Only the government can sleep easier than a preacher on Sunday.
Don’t Stir Up Trouble…Or Else!
I have met plant owners that “don’t want their deal messed with”. They have never been investigated or even inspected so they figure they are safe. Most of them did not want me to go “messin’ in their smoke house.” Only much later I am called because someone finally did inspect them or the landlord ordered ground and water tests or the owner wanted to sell the plant. Mr. or Mrs. new owner are ignorant of environmental laws and proceed without fear. Later on they may learn of their intended fate since they have now become the legal caretakers of that property and Mr. old owner may have taken a powder at that point.
To further complicate matters, most inspectors of regional air boards and hazardous waste keepers are also ignorant of how to inspect a plant. Most of them wouldn’t know a drycleaning machine from a doghouse. These cheesy troublemakers may cause you a bucket full of headaches as you attempt to satisfy their requests when you yourself (like many drycleaners) have done your best to be in compliance. Oh, you can fight it and I myself have been able to get some fines reduced over the years, but in the end they will nail you.
Let’s Play Fair
So when I ask is there fairness in bureaucracy, I must say there is not. Not all inspectors are dummies and most drycleaners do the right thing. There must be stop signs or no one would stop. I’m not against regulations, just unreasonable ones that we cannot avoid. The answer must lie in everyone’s common sense to do the right thing. In the end, our biggest problem is the failure of membership of drycleaning plants. Had that not happened, we might have had the lobbying power to stop this runaway train. Anyway, that’s my humble opinion.
I’m headin’ to the wagon now, these boots are killin’ me!
