Bill would ban use of coal-tar asphalt coatings

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Nate Beck
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Wisconsin lawmakers are looking to ban the use of coal-tar-based asphalt sealants, a material that’s often employed in pavement projects but is also linked to cancer and pollution.

Recently introduced legislation, Senate Bill 716 and Assembly Bill 797, calls for a statewide ban on the use and sale of coal-tar-based sealants and other materials containing high levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. PAHs are known to cause health troubles and environmental damage.

If the proposal is adopted, Wisconsin will be joining a number of cities – and the states of Minnesota and Washington – in instituting such a ban. Dane County adopted its in 2007, and Milwaukee, Green Bay, Sheboygan and various other cities have followed suit in recent years.

“There is no reason why we should continue to allow the use of coal tar based sealants,” Rep. Joel Kitchens, R-Sturgeon Bay, an author of the proposal, said during a public hearing on the legislation on Thursday.

The proposal, also put forward by Sen. Rob Cowles, R-Green Bay, is part of more than a dozen bills that came out of a water-quality task force that completed its work earlier this month. Supporters say there’s little reason for anyone to continue using coal-tar sealant on road projects.

Minnesota officials banned the substances after learning the cost of cleaning up PAHs found in ponds in the Minneapolis metro area could approach $1 billion.

Besides being a pollutant, PAHs are known to increase the risk of cancer. Children who grow up near parking lots treated with coal-tar sealant are 14 times more likely than their counterparts to develop cancer, according to research conducted by Baylor University and the U.S. Geological Survey.

In Milwaukee, local officials outlawed coal-tar sealants after finding they were a primary source of water pollution. A 2016 study by the U.S. Geological Survey and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District concluded that dust from coal-tar sealant was the source of between 42% and 94% of the PAH contamination found in 40 stream-bed sites in the Milwaukee area.

Even without a statewide ban in place, the use of the sealants is already on the wane. Many retailers, including Lowes and Home Depot, no longer sell coal-tar sealants. Alternatives products, such as asphalt-based sealants, contain a fraction of the PAHs that coal-tar sealants do and differ little in price.

Neil Palmer, president of the village of Elk Grove board of trustees, said town officials outlawed coal-tar sealants quickly after learning of their dangers. He said many larger contractors have also stopped using products that contain PAH.

But even if a statewide ban is eventually adopted, he said, local officials must still be vigilant.

“Every year, once spring breaks, we start to see fly-by-night gypsy contractors that move up to southeast Wisconsin,” Palmer said. “They knock on doors and they are pouring poison on your driveway. That’s a local issue of enforcement.” Follow @natebeck9