No more oil in California

[Bryan Morgan]

Here in CT, they have not banned it, but they have severely restricted where a business that uses these kinds of products can locate. Our DEP created Aquifer Protection regulations that bans companies that use hazzardous chemicals as determined by the state DEP from locating their business in the aquifer zone, in my town that is pretty much the entire business district. This means machine shops, gas stations, cabinet shops that do finishing, furniture strippers, etc cannot locate in this zone. If they are already there, they can stay, but must register with the town as being a regulated industry. This is pretty new and nobody knows what this will turn into, but I serve on my towns aquifer protection commission and there is a concern that it will drive out these businesses.

It does not appear to apply to retailers, it is more geared towards manufacturers and companies that use these products as a course of doing business. I this gets expanded, we might not be able to get oil based products out this way as well.

Is there REALLY a problem with stain getting into the water supply? Or is this just another example of a few idiots ruining things for everyone else?

[Mike Bensema]

I don't think there is a problem if the building is designed and built to contain these chemicals, but the state seems to feel differently. Instead of allowing the use of best manufacturing practices to contain these chemicals, they have banned the new formation of a large number of types of businesses located in the aquifer and there does not seem to be much leaway in the regulations. As an example, furniture finishers are banned in this area, but a cabinet shop with the floorspace for the finishing portion of the building is less then 10%, it is ok.

The problems they are trying to avoid are on a larger scale then a retailer like the Home Depot selling stain and poly as part of their business, but it is anyones guess where these regulations will go. I don't see anything in the regulations banning the storage of these products by a retailer, but a wholesaler would not be allowed to warehouse these products in the aquifer zone.

[Darius Ferlas]

I wonder if the zeal to control the VOC levels will also make them ban nail polish? That wouldn't fly in California, would it?

[Brian Kent]

It's cleaner there now because you sent it all to Phoenix.

My deepest apologies. My dad used to go to Phoenix (from Colorado) to take care of his asthma.

[Brian Kent]

One of the reasons we Southern Californian's have had to take responsibility for our lives is that there are 17 Million in Greater Los Angeles, plus the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. The wind goes from west to east and concentrates that pollution into a narrow zone bordered by hills, where the sun bakes the smog and makes it unlivable.

I don't feel bad about anybody using higher polluting products in a state where dispersement takes away the problem. We just live in a concentrated area where we have to exercise greater discipline. It is how we choose to work together to keep our state healthy and beautiful.

As far as the things they say about California, we are so diverse and have so many cultures and socio-econiomic groups, everything they say is true somewhere, and nothing they say is true everywhere.

[Bryan Morgan]

I was just at Home Depot today and they had a variety of Watco danish oils in stock... No signs or anything about them being banned.

[Matt Meiser]

Well now you did it. The black vans that were dispatched as soon as you posted.

[Rick Fisher]

I remember driving into LA during rush hour as a child.. probably 30 years ago.. My brother and I breathed through pillows (we where in an RV) ..

The pollution was terrible..
Today however, LA is comparably clean.

However.. I fail to see how a can of Watco oil is a dangerous element in the grand scheme of things.

I have spent a week in Mexico City on two different occasions.. I can tell you that my stopping using oil based finishes will not stop the arctic thaw.. lol.

Too much of this stuff is " feel good " rather than actually progress.

[Bryan Morgan]

Well now you did it. The black vans that were dispatched as soon as you posted.

Ya know, there have been some helicopters buzzing around here... I was going to write a letter and inform them that they are violating my airspace... I wonder how that will go over....

[Bryan Morgan]

I remember driving into LA during rush hour as a child.. probably 30 years ago.. My brother and I breathed through pillows (we where in an RV) ..

The pollution was terrible..
Today however, LA is comparably clean.

However.. I fail to see how a can of Watco oil is a dangerous element in the grand scheme of things.

I have spent a week in Mexico City on two different occasions.. I can tell you that my stopping using oil based finishes will not stop the arctic thaw.. lol.

Too much of this stuff is " feel good " rather than actually progress.

I dunno what you guys do up there but we buy cans of Watco and pour them straight into our sinks to lube up the disposal. Also, we delight in pouring Watco onto babies and the elderly and feed it to local wildlife. You haven't had fried chicken until you've fried it up in some Watco Natural Danish Oil. Mmmmmmmmm

Not really... I too can't fathom why all this stuff is "banned". I honestly think it has absolutely nothing to do with the environment.

[Dan Karachio]

I don't feel bad about anybody using higher polluting products in a state where dispersement takes away the problem. We just live in a concentrated area where we have to exercise greater discipline. It is how we choose to work together to keep our state healthy and beautiful.

Brian, not directed at you personally, but I find it quite ironic that while so many people in CA seem obsessed with sustainability and talk the talk, LA is a city that has no business being a city and is probably the most unsustainable metro area in the US (Vegas a close tie). Rivers have been drained and stolen (devastating agricultural areas in the process) in order to make LA happen. There is nothing healthy or natural about LA. It existence is founded on the most un-environmental practices imaginable. Seems to me if everyone truly cared about these environmental principles, they would just leave.

Any way, got me thinking. Was shellac allowed during prohibition? How would you get the alcohol?

[Bruce Darrow]

I recently heard third hand the our very own People's Republic of Vermont was going to be the first after CA to ban oil based finishes.

Being blissfully iggerant these days (dropped the local rag subscription, haven't had TV for nearly 20 yrs, don't like NPR's news format, and am a dial-up orphan), I can't speak to the veracity of this alarming rumor, but given the mindset of our Montpelier wonks (and, thus, the majority of the state's populace - after all, someone keeps electing these yahoos!), I won't be surprised......angry, disgusted, and resentful, yes, but surprised? Not in the least. I'm getting inured to official decision making based on symbolism over substance.

Oh for the goodle days!

[Sean Troy]

My deepest apologies. My dad used to go to Phoenix (from Colorado) to take care of his asthma.

Actually I was kidding but Phoenix really does have a pollution problem because of them being in a valley.

[Brian Penning]

One of the reasons we Southern Californian's have had to take responsibility for our lives is that there are 17 Million in Greater Los Angeles, plus the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles.

Always blows me away that there's more people in California than in all of Canada.

[Jim Becker]

The worse thing is that the water based stuff is clear so it doesn't look orange like the oil based.

There are water borne products that don't have this issue. Target's EM2000, for example, is an alkyd varnish that is emulsified into a water carrier. It's a very nice product to use on cherry or walnut where you want some of that "varnish amber" without requiring oil and/or shellac first. That said, I'm so used to the BLO, shellac, water borne finishing regimen that I forget that the water borne is as clear as it is...