SCAQMD COMPLETES CLEANING STUDY WITH TRUCKING ASSOCIATION

Los Angeles Freightliner Makes the Conversion

On December 12, 1997, the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and the California Trucking Association (CTA) released a report to the SCAQMD Governing Board. In September, 1996, the District amended SCAQMD Rule 1171 "Solvent Cleaning Operations" to require a conversion to water-based cleaners in repair and maintenance cleaning by January 1, 1999. The Board directed SCAQMD staff to conduct an implementation study with the CTA to address concerns that water-based cleaners might not be suitable for repair and maintenance of heavy duty truck.

The CTA selected 24 heavy duty truck repair shops to participate in the testing. Twelve manufacturers and distributors of water-based cleaning systems provided cleaning equipment and formulations for the study. The study results indicated that over 90 % of truck parts were properly cleaned with water-based systems. Less than 10 % of the parts were found unacceptable by the mechanics. These "hard to clean" parts may require pre-soaking to loosen the contaminants, different cleaners or equipment or appropriate heating and agitation of the water-based cleaner. The water-based cleaners took somewhat longer than the mineral spirits to clean the parts but the majority of the mechanics that participated in the study did not indicate that this was a problem because it did not extend the total time it took to accomplish a repair. The majority of the heavy duty truck repair shops found the water-based cleaners acceptable for their needs. Only 2 out of 24 facilities indicated that they were not satisfied with the water-based cleaning systems tested. The SCAQMD staff believes that other water-based systems when used properly would be suitable for cleaning parts in these two facilities.

Five of the 24 facilities that participated in the study have converted to water-based systems. One of these facilities is Los Angeles Freightliner in Whittier. Prior to the study,

Freightliner had five mineral spirit sink-on-a-drum units that they leased from a large service provider. During the study, Freightliner tested five units provided by Industrial Technologies that used a W.R. Grace water-based cleaner. The cleaner that was used has been certified by the SCAQMD as a Clean Air Solvent. Says Mike Halbert, President of Industrial Technologies, "we tried to match the cleaning needs of the trucking facilities with the types of cleaning units we provided."

According to Scott Nalley, Service Manager at Freightliner, the aqueous solvents are much preferred over mineral spirits. Mr. Nalley started out as a mechanic and cleaned many parts in the traditional mineral spirits. Like other mechanics, his hands were always irritated from the solvent. He prefers the water-based cleaners because not only do they not irritate the mechanics' hands, they can be used for handwashing after other dirty repair jobs. Says Mr. Nalley "I also like the water-based cleaners because I don't change them out as often as the mineral spirits."

Freightliner ended up purchasing seven cleaning units--three sink-on-a-drum systems, three immersion systems and one spray cabinet. The units have been in use for seven months without a changeout. "My cost savings for the conversion are significant, "says Mr. Nalley. "I can clean my parts, protect my workers, do the right thing for the environment and also save money. What more could you ask of the new technology?"

The SCAQMD has agreed to conduct additional studies with the CTA over the next several months for cleaning baked, carbonized and chemically combined grease and grime in heavy duty truck repair facilities.