C & D News

Contractors, Dealers Offer Aid

Demolition contractors and heavy equipment dealers have been among those to offer assistance to the rescue and clean-up operations taking place after terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

According to Michael Taylor, executive director of the National Association of Demolition Contractors, Doylestown, Pa., the association contacted the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) before noon on Tuesday, Sept. 11. According to Taylor, he let the agency know that NADC’s east coast members were prepared to offer “a wealth of technical experience and sophisticated equipment that could be brought to bear in New York City and Arlington, Va., to assist in urban search and rescue and site clearance phases of these two disaster sites.”

One New Jersey-based NADC member had personnel and equipment at the World Trade Center site by Tuesday afternoon, according to the NADC release.

Equipment companies and dealerships, as well as solid waste companies and other owners of large-capacity trucks and trailers, have also contributed personnel and equipment to the clean-up efforts.

One heavy equipment manufacturer has reported that its corporation and dealer network helped mobilize more than 100 personnel with heavy equipment operations expertise to work at the New York site. “It is one thing to provide machines, but if there aren’t qualified operators available, the efforts will not be as effective,” says Curt Caughey of the North American Commercial Division of equipment maker Caterpillar Inc., Peoria, Ill.

Rental companies and dealerships have also supplied emergency power generation and lighting units to the clean-up sites.

CMRA Hopeful About Lead-Based Paint Rules

Recyclers of painted wood and concrete debris will reportedly have more options when revised U.S. EPA rules concerning lead-based paint are made public.

William Turley, executive director of the CMRA, says sources within the EPA are indicating that a revised rule has received internal clearance at the agency and will be published by the end of the year.

The original rule proposed by the EPA would have banned all debris with measurable amounts of lead-based paint from C&D recycling centers. Recyclers were almost unanimous in their objections to this rule and its potential effect on the viability of both wood and concrete recycling.

The revised rule will reportedly allow C&D recycling facilities to remain as disposal options for painted wood and concrete, where they can be processed into new products that will greatly dilute the presence of lead contained within these products.

The EPA’s reconsideration of the rule has been taking place since the original rule was proposed in the first half of 1999. Public comment periods elicited strong remarks from members of trade groups such as the CMRA, Lisle, Ill., the National Association of Demolition Contractors, Doylestown, Pa., and from other recycling advocates.