With all the problems facing our country, our state and our county, the issue of disposing of pressure-treated wood probably ranks pretty low.
Unless, that is, you’re a homeowner, a builder, or work at county disposal sites – then you might think differently.
And if you fall in that category you might be surprised to learn that starting on Jan. 1, the state was mandating that “treated wood waste” would no longer be allowed at landfills in California.
The lengthy and cumbersome order was issued by the California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), which announced that after existing and more lenient state law and regulations expired, households and businesses are now required to dispose of this treated wood as hazardous waste.
Chemically treated wood is commonly used for fence posts, foundation sill plates, in landscaping, for pilings and guardrails and for wood decking.
Treated wood waste is wood that has been treated with chemical preservatives. These chemicals help protect the wood from insect attack and fungal decay while it’s being used but are considered hazardous chemicals because they pose a risk to human health and the environment if they leach out of solid waste landfills. Among the chemicals used to preserve wood known to be toxic or carcinogenic are arsenic, chromium, copper, creosote and pentachlorophenol.
But the upshot locally is that landfill operators are now required to perform load checks and have been instructed by the state to reject any treated wood waste.
A recent check at the county landfill on Buena Vista Drive near Watsonville revealed a lineup of frustrated residents waiting their turn for these extensive checks, with a number of vehicles turned back because they were attempting to dispose of pressure-treated wood. Many drivers were unaware of the new regulations; others, say landfill operators, were trying to sneak in pressure- treated wood for disposal.
So where can this wood be dropped off? Well, that’s the problem. The DTSC says that the treated wood must be transported to a Class 1 hazardous waste landfill, or to an authorized out of state landfill, for disposal. Wood waste removed from electric, gas, or telephone service remains exempt from these requirements.
Asked whether they are having to deal with a plethora of county residents calling or showing up with questions about what to do with this wood, one employee at Buena Vista answered, “Oh heck yeah … the state didn’t plan it very well.”
Local landfill employees say the only Class 1 landfill site in this region they know of is about 175 miles away, off I-5 near Kettleman City at the Kettleman Hills Facility, a 1,600 acre hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility. They also say there is one Santa Cruz company that collects, and charges for, hazardous waste collection, but this firm, which landfill operators say has been inundated with calls and questions about treated wood disposal, was not answering phone calls in several attempts Wednesday.
Meanwhile, pressure-treated wood is still available for purchase locally, so unsuspecting builders and homeowners may find themselves with a pile of wood they can’t get rid of.
Already reports are circulating that builders and homeowners are burning the wood, which obviously causes air quality issues, or even burying it, where it can leach into groundwater supplies. Other reports say the wood is just being dumped in remote areas.
The state regulations only offer that treated wood can be reused, or, for the time being, stored.
What will happen, inevitably, is that builders will charge more for construction projects, because the cost of disposing of leftover materials will go up. This in turn will just add more costs to housing and remodels, already prohibitively expensive in our county.
No doubt, the regulations are intended to protect Californians from potentially dangerous chemicals, even though treated wood has been in common use for years. But by not offering options and alternatives, the state runs the risk of fostering more cynicism over our lawyer-run, regulation happy, government agencies.
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January 29, 2021 at 08:02PM
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Editorial | Wooden state regulations create new burdens - Santa Cruz Sentinel
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