Preserve the Environment by Covering Drains Before Sealing

I purposefully made this week’s toolbox tip headline a little “clickbait-y.” While much of the asphalt industry knows we use safe products when sealing pavements, much of the general public does not know this. (I’m aware there are some tar-based sealcoat products still on the market and still allowed in some counties, but we’re going to ignore those for this tip.)

When the contractor indus, based in the Northeast, used a bio-based fogseal to preserve pavements on the island of Nantucket, they didn’t necessarily need to cover storm drains to prevent runoff or overspray from getting into waterways.

The material they used was deemed safe for the environment, but they were sensitive to the optics. Members of the general public have been conditioned to fear anything unknown draining into waterways, so the indus crew wisely covered drains before spraying even a harmless, bio-based fogseal near them.

Do you have a preservation project coming up that will involve spraying tack, sealer, release agent or the like? Have you considered not just the environmental implications of the material you use, but the optics of your project preparation as well? You can forward this tip to a project manager on your team!

Sign up for our Toolbox Tips newsletter now to receive tips like this to your inbox each week!