Re: new hazmat rules
 

The Green Police were actually standing on top of trailers and using Binoculars to locate "infractions" at Gainesville this weekend.

This could very well be the beginning of a bunch of new fees and taxes for racers and race tracks.

There were a group of kids going from trailer to trailer asking for used parts and autographs.... give them your used oil filter and/or empty brake clean cans!

Re: new hazmat rules
 

Can anyone explain why I have to pay to dispose of my oil/filter at the track and I can't leave a race with it carefully stored in my trailer, but I can walk into almost any auto parts store and just toss it in there for free?

Re: new hazmat rules
 

Standing on top of trailers using binoculars to patrol the pits? I guess the next obvious question would be who's trailers were these people standing on top of? I could only imagine the response they would recieve if they asked most racers if they could use their trailer as a observation platform.

I guess we will really find out for sure where this is all going in Oct. when the Div. 2 LODRS makes it's way to Silver Dollar. With Gainesville being a NHRA owned facility and being in Alachua county, probably the most politicly liberal counties in Fla., I might guess this is the location for the extreme. Knowing what I do about politics in Alachua county I would say the only reason Gainesville Raceway is still standing after 42 years is solely for the revenue that the Gatornationals bring to Alachua county each year.

Shelly, do you think that maybe those kids going around asking for autographed parts could be a set-up by the Green Police? Maybe that is common around the alcohol pits, but I don't recall it being remotely common in the areas we usually are pitted in. That would be idea, a kid come back with a used oil filter, empty oil bottle or a empty brake clean can with someone's signature on it. It might be a "far-fetched" idea, but maybe not.

The more i read posts like this makes me kind of glad I chose to sit out this year. Hopefully after the 2010 ellections there will be a return of sanity and reasonable thinking in our country and our racing community.

{Disclaimer} I do not intend to or advocate pulling the plug on a oil pan and dumping oil onto the ground, but I do believe 99.9% of the racers in this country have the common courtesy and human decency to do the right thing on their own without government dictation.




Hey Dan Moore, you're #1. :D

RIP Mark Graham

Re: new hazmat rules
 

Joe,
the real Green Police.... in action. I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. A year ago I would have thought it was a joke.
(I think they were on top their own trailer)

I don't want to get paranoid. The kids seemed like adorable drag racing fans that just wanted some keepsakes. They were carrying around a little box of spark plugs and a signed fly wheel when I talked to them.

And I agree, most of us are very careful caring people when it comes to keeping our pits and race tracks clean and hazmat free.

Why can't we take our oil and junk home and dispose of it properly there? Because then the jerks that sick the Green Police on us won't make any money with their fees and taxes. I can't wait to see what a fiasco the Gators are going to be.
We miss you Joe, but with 7 crashes at Bradenton and the terrifying incident with Bart yesterday..... I'm wishing I stayed home too.

Re: new hazmat rules
 

Why is it that you can TRANSPORT IT INTO THE TRACK!?!? If you're not qualified to transport oil, you're not qualified, period. This is just a crock. Just like the oil down penalties.

Anyone want to bet that wheel tethers are next for us?!?!?

Re: new hazmat rules
 

As I have posted earlier I know a good deal about EPA rules and regulations as I did deal with the agencies for a number of years before retirement. I can tell you as long as you are not an incorporated business you can transport Hazardous Materials without permits or placards up to a point if it is your personal waste. An example:
Racing Gasoline is considered a Hazardous Material however, unless you transport more than 110 gallons and it is not business related (for personal use) you are not breaking any laws. (The 110 gallons relates to a weight limit in pounds in the law which I can not recall without going and looking it up but anything over the 110 gallons is over limit which requires a permit or placards or both on the transporting vehicle depending on where you are state wise and road wise)

Used Oil is not considered a Hazardous Waste unless tested and determined to be Hazardous Materials with contaminates to a level which would make it Hazardous. (usually this is metals suspended in the oil)
One drop of the chlorinated brake cleaner can make hundreds of gallons of used oil test as Hazardous Materials which I am sure has happened at the race tracks in the past which may have caused some the additional rules also.

Used Oil filters are handled differently in every state.
Some states require all used oil filters to be squeezed and then disposed of.
Others require them to be shredded then incinerated in an approved manner.
Still other states will allow you to dispose of them in a landfill.
In the case of NHRA it is all about the money along with complying with the laws.
There is a buck to be made along the way and NHRA wants their cut. That is what this is all about.
Just My 2 Cents

Re: new hazmat rules
 

To be fair wrt NHRA, some of the tracks I've been to have looked two inches short of a superfund site... We all should be careful and conscious about not dumping stuff on the ground, and cleaning up when we do, and the like. I know I am.

But I'm sure there are a boatload of a-holes who just dump stuff on the ground and say "whatever", who save stuff up at home and take it to the track to dump it in the can, and so on. These same guys also don't listen to notices, announcements, and reason -- they only seem to listen to rules and fines. Well, they got it...

Re: new hazmat rules
 

I agree....I don't see an issue with removing your oil and filter from the track with you in an approved container...Heck we all have oil drain pans and the used oil can go right back in the containers the new came out of. Maybe they should just send an official over if you want to change your oil and have them make sure when you are done that you did'nt just dump it.....impose a fine if you did'nt notify an official?..

Re: new hazmat rules
 

That is a pretty good idea except you left out one important detail, the fee you need to pay the official to supervise your oil change. I am convinced that is the bottom line reason for all of this weather it is the NHRA at the race track or the EPA on a nation wide level. Somewhere along the line, a single person or a group of people are lining their pockets from this whole deal.




Hey Dan Moore, you're #1. :D

RIP Mark Graham

Re: new hazmat rules
 

Does any other sanctioning body have these problems?