COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Department of Environmental Protection
Northcentral Regional Office
208 West Third Street, Suite 101
Williamsport, PA 17701
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
CONTACT:
Daniel T. Spadoni
Phone: 570-327-3659
WILLIAMSPORT, PA – APRIL 15, 2003
Inspections Uncover 18 Violations of Environmental Regulations
The Department of Environmental Protection?s (DEP) inspections to assure that trucks carrying waste comply with Pennsylvania?s environmental and safety laws found 18 violations on the 80 trucks checked April 14 at a rest area on westbound Interstate 80 in Mifflin Township, Columbia County, Regional Director Robert Yowell announced today.
?Staff from the departments of Environmental Protection and Transportation, as well as the Pennsylvania State Police, inspected waste transporters yesterday as part of an ongoing effort across the state to send the message that DEP isn?t going away when it comes to ensuring waste hauler compliance with safety and environmental requirements,? Yowell said. ?We will continue to be as vigilant as we have in the past.?
During the inspection, trucks are checked for mechanical and safety problems, including badly worn tires, faulty brakes, unsecured loads and excess weight. They also are checked for environmental violations including faulty tarps covering waste, improper signage, failure to have an on-board fire extinguisher and waste leakage.
?Some of the waste-hauling truck drivers on Pennsylvania?s roads are driving in unsafe equipment and present a hazard to the public,? Yowell said. ?We want to make sure unsafe trucks are taken out of service.?
Inspectors found the 18 violations on 10 of the vehicles that were inspected at the rest area. Officials cited four municipal log violations, three sign violations, two leaking load violations and nine Act 90 violations. Act 90 of 2002 was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law in June 2002. The act required all municipal and residual waste haulers using waste disposal and processing facilities in Pennsylvania to obtain authorization to use those facilities from DEP by Jan. 31, 2003.
Need for the new legislation became obvious after DEP, PennDOT and the state police completed ?Operation Clean Sweep? in May 2001. The operation identified hundreds of unsafe trash trucks?86 percent of the trash trucks had safety violations, and more than one-third of the trucks were removed from service as unsafe vehicles. During ?Operation Clean Sweep,? more than 40,000 trucks were inspected, resulting in more than 11,000 safety and environmental violations.
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