Track-out is considered a
serious environmental and physical
liability and requires considerable
attention in maintaining compliance
with state regulations. Many are
familiar with the time and effort spent
avoiding Notices of Violation (NOVs)
and associated fines in order to
keep daily operations running
smooth. Major areas of concern are
clean air and clean water; what may
not be realised is that keeping the
road clean actually falls into both
categories.
Dust, dirt, debris or ash on the
roads may be affecting more than one
of a plant’s environmental permits.
1.
Storm water discharge permit:
in 1972, the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) Clean
Water Act authorised state
governments to implement the
National Pollutant Discharge
Elimination System (NPDES)
permit programme. These storm
water plans are specifically
designed to let the state
authorities oversee the natural
water resources in relation to a
plant’s site. A truck or car may
also be carrying substances that
violate the site’s state storm
water permit. All it takes is a
little rain for the flyash stuck
on the truck to be discharged
to the storm drains. Debris that
is discharged in violation of a
permit can be a costly issue for a
plant.
2.
Fugitive particulate matter
emissions: fugitive dust is
a small airborne particle
called particulate matter. The
EPA defines fugitive dust as
“particulate matter that is
generated or emitted from open
air operations (emissions that
do not pass through a stack or
a vent)”. The control of fugitive
particulate matter is a component
of a site’s air pollution control
regulations. Not only can fugitive
dust create unaesthetic conditions
on the road, but it can also cause
health risks due to the inhalation
of such fine particles. These fine
particles are easily trapped on
and under vehicles being brought
out to the open roadways.
How to prevent track-out
The owners of Innovative Equipment
Solutions Inc. (IES) have felt the pain
of track-out. The partners own both
an excavating company and a mining
operation in Arkansas and have had
to develop solutions for their own
purposes. In response to its own
track-out issues, IES started building
Neptune Automated Wheel Wash to
help maintain its vehicle fleet to
Clifty Creek's automatic truck wash.
33 ft/three tyre revolution wash platform.
54
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World Coal
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June 2016