Posthaste Facts on the Environment #19
EPA Hangs Mobile Dry Cleaner Out to Dry
Produced April 30, 1996
"Ozone rules" can devastate a small business. Ron Cahill and his
20 employees learned the hard way.
Mr. Ron Cahill, an entrepreneur from Wilmington, Massachusetts, had a unique
idea -- to start up a mobile dry cleaning business for draperies.
"In the past, hotels, hospitals, etc. would have to put a room out
of commission, have their own staff take down their draperies (untrained),
take them to a local cleaner and wait anywhere from a week to three weeks
to be cleaned... [N]ursing homes and rehab centers, in particular, felt
we were a God-send as these institutions are closely monitored for cleanliness,"
said Mr. Cahill. With his mobile business, the drapes would be cleaned on-site
within 45 minutes. What was once a headache for customers soon became a
convenience. Simple enough? Not quite.
The EPA ran him out of business by excessively taxing, and then banning,
the chemical (valclene) he needed to operate his dry cleaning machines.
Valclene is a chloroflurocarbon (CFC) that is alleged to destroy the earth's
ozone layer. With no replacement chemical available to operate his machines,
the once promising business -- including 20 employees -- found itself "washed-out"
by government rules.
Source: Ron M. Cahill, April 30, 1996
Posthaste Facts on the Environment #19, published by The National Center
for Public Policy Research, 501 Capitol Court, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20002, 202/543-4110,
Fax (202) 543-5975, E-Mail [email protected], Web http://www.nationalcenter.org.
For more information about Posthaste #19 contact the Environmental Policy
Task Force at 202/543-4110 or [email protected]
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