Local issue and "big government"
For those of you who may want to take a break from the gaslighting going on from the "defense" in the Impeachment trial. I thought this might be a good topic on the nuance of "government intervention" and consequences of that intervention on others.
Recently, as of January 1, 2021 our local government (County) enacted an ordinance indicating that pressure treated lumber would no longer be accepted at any of the local landfills. The closest landfill accepting the lumber is 5 hours away. So, we had windstorms a few weeks back that knocked down several large sections of our 80 foot fence line. The fence was older (22 years) and rotting in some sections. We knew it would come down eventually and were planning to replace it in sections. The ground contact boards and the posts are pressure treated. The frame and pickets are not. So we have a pile of pressure treated wood in our back yard, no hauling company will touch it, and we have no way of clearing it other than taking it 5 hours away.
So, Pressure treated lumber is a standard in construction, especially where prolonged contact with the ground is indicated. PTL is injected with chemicals, mostly arsenic and derivatives, which protect the wood from rot, damage from moisture, and attack from wood eating insects. However. arsenic is highly toxic. SO, I understand why local landfills would not want a bunch of the stuff taking up space and potentially polluting the environment.
The problem I have is that there appear to have been no plans to mitigate the effects of the change in practice to the very large portion of people who have fencing with pressure treated lumber. The change in policy was not one that I was really looking at. There were a couple of things going on in politics and legislative events that were holding my attention, a little more.
So, what now? The seeming positive, in talking with a city official, was that our County BOS were meeting yesterday about a plan to deal with the issue. There was talk about making companies (local lumber distributers and box stores like Lowes and Home Depot. who sell PTL, take in and dispose of the waste). I am sure there will be a lot of pushback on that idea from the retailers.
Have any of you experienced actions by local/regional government where you understood the intent, but were adversely affected by policies that were not (in your opinion) fully thought out?
= new reply since forum marked as read
your dilemma.
We've had a state-wide ban in place, but local disposal sites were given variances. However, with the new year, those variances have expired and now there is apparently nowhere in the state that will take this material. Given all the PTL waste that is piling in the state, we are facing a potentially catastrophic environmental situation, without any state-wide solutions on the horizon.
https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2021/01/31/state-ban-disposal-treated-wood-products-hammers-home-improvement/
I appreciate your bringing up the problem you face. I am now more aware of the problem (country-wide) but, sadly, I have nothing of value to offer.
