NEW CLEAN AIR RULES NOT LIMITED TO INDUSTRY

An honest mistake can be costly under the new federal Clean Air Act, which went into effect July 1.

"Mistakes or misunderstandings have already been costly to some Southeast Missouri industries and businesses," said Robert Hendrix, president of the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce. He said all industries and business should familiarize themselves with the new environmental regulations.

"A couple of these incidents did not concern big industry," added Hendrix. "Smaller industry and businesses are affected by the Clean Air Act, too."

In fact, pointed out Hendrix, the new requirements will affect almost every business.

"This, in turn, affects consumers," he said. "The cost of purchasing, reclaiming devises and increasing labor required to abide by all the new legislation will be passed on to the consumers."

Norris Johnson, process engineer-control room supervisor at Lone Star Industries Inc., agrees.

Lone Star, licensed to burn 2.4 tons of shredded rubber and more than 2,200 gallons of waste fuel each hour, has undergone several changes over the past two years to meet environmental regulations.

"We're not making any big changes now," said Johnson, "but we may have to in the future."

Under the Clean Air Act, companies, both large and small, have to undergo air emissions inventory testing and evaluations.

"There will be some further rules and restrictions added in the future," said Johnson. "The full effects of the Clean Air Act haven't been heard from yet."

"The government will continue to add to clean air restrictions through 1995," said Hendrix. "Some businesses are afraid to expand, or get into new products, and a lot of smaller industries may have to fold because of the expense of adapting to the new regulations."

Hendrix does not pull any punches in expressing his feelings toward the Clean Air Act.

"I'm against it," he said. "When I start hollering about the latest legislation it does not mean that I disagree with the concept. I just question whether it is really economically feasible to take that last one-and-a-half percent of contaminants out of the air."

Hendrix explains further:

"We have taken 98.5 percent of contaminants out of the air since 1970," he said. "Now, the government wants to take that other 1.5 percent out with little regard of what it is going to cost businesses and consumers."

He cited examples. "New scrubbers which have to be installed on smokestacks cost millions of dollars just to take out that last 1.5 percent of contaminants," he said. "That's like killing a fly with a sledgehammer."

The new regulation dramatically increases typical refrigeration repair bills, noted Hendrix.

"I had some refrigeration repairs recently," said Hendrix. "Because of the necessity to find a slow leak in a compressor, my bill was double what it would have been a year ago."

The new regulation requires that refrigerant gasses those used in everything from household and commercial refrigerators to auto air conditioners be captured and recycled rather than released into the atmosphere.

This includes refrigerants like Freon or R-1, which contain chlorofluorocarbons (CFCS), which are believed to damage the Earth's ozone layer.

"They haven't even proved that it damages the ozone layer yet," said Hendrix. "They just believe it does."

Hendrix said, "The new regulation has expanded the list of regulated toxicollutants from seven to almost 200. This means that almost every business should take a look at its operation."

The penalties for violations can be costly, said Hendrix. "The Missouri Air Law established civil and criminal penalties of up to $10,000 per day for each violation of rules."

Missouri was one of the first states to pass comprehensive legislation, in 1992, implementing the massive changes required by the federal Clean Air Act amendments.

"Our big concern now is that small businesses understand the new regulations," said Hendrix. "We have held clean-air seminars, but attendance was light. There seemed to be little interest. We'll continue to hold these seminars."

Hendrix said the large companies Procter & Gamble, Lone Star Industries, Union Electric and Noranda are familiar with the regulations.

"But we need to get the word out to the smaller businesses," said Hendrix. "This can affect service stations, cleaning establishments, printing companies, appliance dealers, paint and body shops, and many others.

"They need to know and understand the impact of this law and what they have to do to meet the new regulations," he added. "We'll be holding other clean-air seminars this year."

Hendrix said, "Businesses will have to assess the regulations' potential impact and how to prepare for the regulatory changes. You have environmental representatives out there looking for violations."