VBT Environmental Commission to consider penalties for coal tar

The Van Buren Township Environmental Commission directed that information be gathered on penalties levied by other communities on use of coal tar driveway sealants.
At its regular meeting July 20, chairman David Brownlee asked Matthew Best, deputy director of the planning and economic development department, to get the new ordinance passed by Hamburg Township earlier that week and the Ann Arbor ordinance recently passed.
This will be on the agenda of the Aug. 17 commission meeting for discussion.
Trustee Jeff Jahr, who sits on the Environmental Commission, announced at the beginning of the meeting that he saw Channel 4’s report on that evening’s 6’clock news about Hamburg Township passing an ordinance banning coal tar use in the township. He said both Van Buren Township and Ann Arbor were cited as having coal tar bans.
He said Hamburg limits its coal tar use to .1% and VBT’s limit is 1%, so Hamburg’s ban is tighter.
Brownlee said he was alerted that the City of Belleville sent out trifolds on coal tar from the Huron River Watershed Council with their water bills. VBT has yet to send out the information to its residents.
Brownlee read an email from the Independent telling of a call received from a driveway sealant firm. The caller said some firms are ignoring the ban because there is no penalty and lying to customers about what is being applied.
“If we don’t have a penalty…” Brownlee said. “If we don’t have resources to enforce the ordinance … if we find there is a violation, there is no penalty.”
Brownlee suggested looking at the ordinance and consider penalties, so if they find a major violation, they could act.
“Look at Ann Arbor and Hamburg and see what they’re doing,” Trustee Jahr said. “I think it’s self-enforcing here … telling homeowners about the dangers of coal tar…”
Best said he would gather the information and assured commissioners that the township’s ordinance enforcement team is able to enforce whatever ordinance necessary.
He said there is no way for enforcement now because the township doesn’t issue permits for driveway sealing, but it can do anything with site plans.
“We skated up to it and backed off,” Jahr said of penalties. “There are a variety of ways of doing it.”
“Anyone with a truck can come in and apply sealant,” Best said “Police can’t be everywhere.”
“We’re getting more sophisticated,” Jahr said.
“If there was a one-time enforcement, others would see,” Brownlee said.
Commissioner Norm DeBuck said he understood the feelings of the person who called the Independent to say other companies were lying to customers, telling them the coal tar they were putting down actually was asphalt.
“If we’re all playing by the rules, if we’re on a level playing field, we can do business,” Commissioner DeBuck said. “This issue is going to push us to some sort of penalty.”
“A fine does give us some teeth,” Brownlee said.
“If this is something you want them (ordinance enforcers) to do, they will do it,” Best said.
Brownlee said he hasn’t heard from State Rep. Kristy Pagan about the coal tar bill she submitted at the state level and he was told it’s still in committee.
Brownlee said he takes a bike ride every morning and he sees the drives being sealed. He suggested he may bring his testing kit along and scrape some sealant off to get a sample. He stressed he would take it from the public road where the new sealant always is dribbled.
• Heard a report from Best on the Lakeshore Management Workgroup. He said there are 15 people in the group and they have met 3 ½ times (one time for half an hour) and they have a draft of a document they will present to the planning commission’s lakeshore committee. They are first waiting for clarification on what the DNR rules are. He said a lot of the concerns of the residents have been resolved in the new document, but a lot of the original document is still there. “Ron (Akers) and I facilitated the group, but the residents really made this work,” Best said. He said he would give a copy of the draft to the Environmental Commission so members can make comments to the planning commission committee;
• Discussed information on honey bees and pollinators furnished to the commission by Commissioner David Wilson who was unable to attend the meeting because of illness. Best said he has been fortunate to work on a lot of land use and has found vegetation and green space can be better than gray space. He said the latest craze is about pollinators, who are not just bees. He said a bee can only travel about a mile and others about half a mile and so pollinator pockets need to be set up. “Dave is looking for us to start educating ourselves,” Best said, suggesting going to www.pollinator.com. Grants are available, he said. “We couldn’t call ourselves an Environmental Commission if we ignored this,” Brownlee said. “There isn’t anyone here who doesn’t benefit from this … We need to start developing a strategy of how to deal with them … See how other communities deal with this.” Commissioner DeBuck, a farmer, said he lives it every day and the bumble bees are incredible. The items will be on the next agenda;
• Discussed the kinds and sizes of maps the commission would like to see on the walls of the meeting room for reference when discussing the township. Best said he would talk to Buildings & Grounds about putting up the maps;
• Heard Best say he is serving on the Alliance of Rouge Communities as a voting member and the Alliance of Downriver Watersheds as vice chairman. He said he helped to start the ADW. The commission discussed removal efforts for the worst invasive plant in the world, phragmites (common weed cane) including Rodeo application, which is used on freeways. Buckthorn is also being removed from parks. Jahr said the milfoil in the lake is farther than usual and caught in the props of his boat recently. Best said conditions were right for an algae bloom in Belleville Lake the following week; and
• Briefly discussed storm water. Best said because of coal tar, sediment in drainage ponds show PAH residue, which is hazardous waste. “We’re looking at … how to be a better partner” with storm water. “Hopefully the next time we meet we can talk about what we can do.”