11/18/1993 CONSERVATION COMMISSION Minutes

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.t onservation Commission w November 1 , 1993 Page 7. CCA: The Agent distributed handouts re CCA. He made up a form letter to be sent to those individuals affected by the policy. They will only have to pay the $20.00 advertising fee for-an amended. order. Susana Lamik felt it is legally proper. Nts. Ferriday agreed it is a good alternative and not a hardship, Bennett Gordon, in attendance for this discussion, stated .it would be a lot easier to go along with anyth-ing the Commission proposes because he only has three pilings, however, he questioned the whole approach. He has done research and the policy towards CCA was only discussed two tines and with no notification to the public. Dr. Gordon advised about a month ago he talked with M . Sherman and volunteered to do some work to find out what is what with CCA treated lumber. To weeks ago he stopped in to the office and found out that fir. Sherman had drafted a letter, not waiting for his findings. He provided the Commission with the information he has received* In looking at this research, it appears that Creosote pilings leach out, h is unsure about CCA. It is a pesticide, but undergoes a chemical process called fixation when pressure treated which chemically reacts with the wood in the -fiber and becomes an insoluble metal. complex. If it didn't stay in there, you would lose the 40 to 60 year life span. According to the literature he has looked at, it is indicated that in excess of 9 the material its fated over a several year time span so the amount of leachate coning out of a properly CCA pile is extremely small. The it tial liquid that is on the surface, that is water and not the chemicals. He is of the opirdon that the Commission should just wait and see what the rest of the literature shows before doing anything, He is not sure it is the correct solution to cover them with copper bottom paint which is a toxic material when the leachate appears to be somewhere between parts per billion and non-existent. He asked for a little more time to do some more work. Dr. Gordon advised Springborn Lab in Wareham is doling work on this. He would like to spew with Duncan York about this. Mrs. Ferriday stated the Commission has to rely on the expertise of the Shellfish Warden and Shellfish Commission; the only reason the Cor ion has changed'is that the Shellfish Warden came in, because of Dr. Gordon's problem and suggestion to fiberglass the pilings, and suggested they could be painted. That is the ex- pertise from which the Commission drew its conclusions. Dr. Gordon stated his idea was to put- a non-permeable coating around there and that is what the fiberglass was meant to be so that any leachate was trapped within the fiberglass coating. In reading this material, it appears the leachate is so insignificant that it is absolutely unnecessary. Mrs. Ferriday stated .the Commission is trying to rectify things, as quickly as possible. Mr. Sherman stated there was no intent to disregard the work that Dr. Gordon volunteered to d , it is just that the Commission is under a lot of pressure to come to a decision. He was asked who was putting the Commission under pressure, He advised various consultants are asking if a decision has been made; they are ready to build a pier. Dr. Gordon stated it is his point that the Commission should not have done it in the first place without adequately researching it. Mrs. Ferriday stated the Commission can learn from its mistakes.