DOES YOUR SHOPPING CENTER HAVE AN OPERATING DRY CLEANER?

When is secondary containment required to be in place?

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP), facilities that begin operation on or after January 1, 1996, must be equipped with secondary containment when the business begins operation. Secondary containment for these facilities must consist of rigid and impermeable containment vessels installed beneath each machine or item of equipment in which drycleaning solvents are used.

Facilities that began operations prior to January 1, 1996, must be equipped with secondary containment by January 1, 1997. Secondary containment for these facilities must consist of rigid and impermeable containment vessels, or a dike around each machine or item of equipment which drycleaning solvents are used.

All facilities, regardless of when operation began, must install secondary containment around any solvent or waste solvent storage area by January 1, 1997. The secondary containment for storage areas must be either a rigid and impermeable vessel, or a surrounding dike.

The rigid and impermeable vessels shall be constructed of metal or other material that cannot be permeated by drycleaning solvents, according to manufacturer product use and limitation recommendations. All diked containment areas must be sealed or otherwise made impervious to drycleaning solvents, including floor surfaces, floor drains, floor joints and inner dike walls. Concrete or asphalt floor surfaces are not impervious to drycleaning solvents. In order to maintain a secondary containment dike that is impervious to drycleaning solvents, all floor surfaces, floor drains and floor joints within the diked area must be sealed with a solvent-resistant sealer and/or caulking compound (sealant).

The FDEP does not recommend any specific floor sealers or sealants. However, the sealer and sealant must be compatible with and resistant to all solvents used at the facility for a contact period of at least 72 hours, according to manufacturer product use and limitation recommendations. The sealant must be applied and maintained in accordance with manufacturer specifications. Sealant specifications and a record of application dates must be maintained at the facility.