asphalt driveway sealer

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Maybe if I put it in different terms, it will make sense.

I cleaned out ponds at 8 sites last year. These ponds protect people from flooding and capture all the garbage people litter our roads with, keeping lakes, streams, and rivers cleaner.

It cost 1.25 million dollars to accomplish this. These are clean ponds with no PAH or other actionable contaminants. If they had PAHs in them, my cost to dispose of the material goes to near 20 million. Not a typo or a exaggeration.

Who pays for that? The taxpayer does.

One of the most dangerous substances in the world is dihydrogen monoxide. Thing is, it's all about the concentration and use. So go ahead and argue since it's used in medicine then dumping tons of it must be safe... the levels of PAHs in our ponds are above allowable industrial concentrations. Not trace amounts.

When there are practical alternatives at similar cost and effectiveness..
 
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I almost forgot. While we're at it saving the planet from the rigors of Coal Tar contamination from driveways, we should also start tearing out the 135 MILLION creosote treated utility poles used in this country. Of which over 3% are replaced annually, (4,050,000). That of course in addition to the 140,000 miles of creosote treated railroad ties. All of which contain Coal Tar, and are buried in the ground.

https://www.beyondpesticides.org/as...20Revised%20Treated%20Wood%202-21-03.pdf
 
We aren't talking about telephone poles or railroad ties or medicinal uses.

Driveway sealants wear off. (Pretty obvious since they have to be reapplied). The particles are quickly washed downstream via the driveway to a road and then to a storm pond in this area where they accumulate. When they are removed, high concentrations must be landfilled at high cost.

Coal tar sealants contain up to 30% coal tar and 1/2 of that are PAH's. The alternatives, that work just as well and cost the same, have PAH concentrations that are 100 times lower. Pretty simple to use the product that doesn't cause the problem when there is no cost difference or performance difference.

So keep tilting at all the other uses. Ignore the facts related to this one use. And I'll send you the bill in your taxes when the work has to be done, and I'm sure there will be complaining about that too.
 
By the way, what are the requirements for disposing of old railroad ties and telephone poles? Since they are as harmless as being presented, I'm sure there are no regulations on that...
 
Originally Posted by MNgopher
.......... And I'll send you the bill in your taxes when the work has to be done, and I'm sure there will be complaining about that too.

You keep carrying on about the cost, in an almost bragging fashion. And that's just it. The work doesn't, "have to be done". Those costs are being created by the same feel good, liberal "green" politicians who levied them in the first place. Because they have managed to convince people how terrible this stuff supposedly is. And if they throw enough money at it, they just might be able to, "fix it". When the fact is the world is not going to perish if you stop cleaning out a few ponds on the taxpayers dime.

These costs are not necessary. And even if they were, you would have a hard time convincing people it was all created by a few suburbanites trying to preserve their driveways. Especially when you have other far more massive uses of the product, (Coal Tar), that go completely unchecked, and are creating far more of the same type of contamination, as I have outlined. If this product is so dangerous to mankind, doesn't it make sense to start the cleanup process with the biggest problem?

As I pointed out, you have far greater contamination being caused nationwide by railroad ties and utility poles, than you do a few blacktop suburban driveways. Yet you think I'm deflecting when I point to that. You've got your finger in the dike, wasting millions of dollars at the same time, while the whole dam is crumbling around you.

It's much the same deal with a lot of these anti pollution efforts that cost a fortune to implement, but are short to completely non existent on results. Just like many counties refusing to issue license tags to people who's vehicles emit .0002 parts per million too many hydrocarbons, when you have a country like China opening 2 new coal fired electric power plants every week. It's not accomplishing anything against the overall problem. Last time I looked, the entire world shares the same atmosphere.

When I lived in Phoenix, (Maricopa County), I was required by law to pay, and have my vehicles emissions tested every year. If I didn't, or else had them tested and they failed, they would not issue license tags. Now I live in the same state, just 200 miles away in Mohave County, and they require no such testing. Where is the common sense in that? There isn't any because all of this has nothing to do with "clean air", and everything to do with $$$$$$..... Just like your multi million dollar pond cleaning scam. Unless it's done everywhere it's totally pointless, and you know it.

I like a clean environment as much or more as the next guy. But this is certainly not the way to achieve it. It's nothing more than the easy way out, by creating feel good legislation that costs a fortune to implement, but accomplishes little to nothing in the overall scheme of things. It's a bit like worrying about the luminous dial on your watch, when you live 100 miles away from Chernobyl.
 
After talking to some local contractors and reading various information on Websites and talking to my son-in-law I had a contractor fill cracks and seal using Gilsonite.

Gilsonite is a sealer made with a solvent and it's designed to slightly soften the top oxidized asphalt surface so it can stick better and seal the surface. It's banned in a few states because of its VOC. It gets a bad rap because the gypsies ripoffs thin it down significantly with diesel and it should only be thinned with mineral spirits. But it's made by well known asphalt sealer companies and not designed to be thinned unless the temp is low.

The sealers I wanted to use petroleum resin or asphalt emulsion are difficult to find contractors that use them.

It may be a situation that if I want something other than coal tar or Gilsonite then I might have to do it myself.

But quite honestly I really don't want to become an expert on driveway sealer. Just a decent looking driveway that will last.
 
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