Traverse City commissioners will consider enacting a citywide ban on coal tar-based sealants – products used in paving driveways, parking lots, and roads that contain hazardous chemicals linked to elevated cancer risks. The chemicals have been found in local waterways, prompting officials to consider the ban as part of a multi-pronged effort to strengthen the city’s stormwater rules and infrastructure and better protect the city’s water quality.

Commissioners will consider the ban at their August 5 meeting, as well as proposed changes to the city’s stormwater ordinance. An ad hoc committee of commissioners has been meeting for the past year to study the ordinance and make recommendations on potential rewrites. As part of their report, the committee plans to recommend a resolution prohibiting the use of coal tar-based sealants in any city projects, and also banning vendors hired by the city from using them. But several commissioners Monday said they wanted to expand that to a communitywide ban in Traverse City.

“Let’s do it citywide instead of just putting these rules on us,” said Mayor Jim Carruthers. “It might be more effective to support water quality regionally.” Commissioner Brian McGillivary also supported a total ban, as did Commissioner Michele Howard. “This stuff is leaking into our water, and it’s the commercial use of it that’s the problem,” she said. “I think (a total ban) is an important step we should take. We’re so close to the water.”

Coal tar-based sealants contain toxic compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs, which are categorized as a human carcinogen by the National Toxicology Program. When the sealants break down or wear off from the pavement, the PAHs can wash away from the surface into nearby rivers and lakes, be spread by the wind, or get tracked into people’s homes. PAHs can cause a burning or irritating sensation in those who handle them; higher doses of exposure are linked to increased cancer risk and are particularly harmful to children.

According to Executive Director Christine Crissman of The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay, officials from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (formerly the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ) visited Traverse City a few years ago and conducted sediment testing in local parking lots and waterways. In the majority of samples collected, PAHs were found – some in low levels, but others at “concerning” rates, Crissman says. “We know that in that small amount of sampling that we are seeing, that it’s likely it’s pretty spread throughout the Grand Traverse Bay watershed. The health effects (of PAHs) are well-known and documented…there is a nationwide effort to try to establish these types of bans.”

Howard reiterated that point to commissioners, noting that national retailers including Home Depot, Lowe’s, and Ace have pulled coal tar-based sealants from their shelves. Minnesota and Washington have banned pavement sealants containing coal tar, and Maine will outlaw them as of 2021. Other states including Illinois and New York have considered similar bills, and numerous municipalities have banned coal tar-based sealants. Industry representatives have fought against such legislation, saying the scientific studies are flawed and that other types of sealant – notably asphalt sealcoats – are not as effective and do not last as long as coal tar products. Crissman says those are “misconceptions” that should be addressed through a public educational campaign, as well as advising residents on the health risks of PAHs.

Because of increasing awareness and political pressure surrounding toxic compounds like PAHs – including their migration into waterways through stormwater runoff – many construction companies and contractors are already moving away from coal tar-based sealants. Communications Director Tonya Wildfong of Team Elmer’s says the company does not use coal tar sealant in its asphalt mix design, and so would not be affected by a city ban. She adds the company is supportive of the city’s efforts to reduce stormwater pollution.

“We’re encouraged by the City of Traverse City in their commitment to protect our water,” she says. “When conditions allow, they’ve been specifying upgraded underground stormwater systems with technology that helps filter road surface stormwater prior to entering lakes and streams.”

In addition to the ban, commissioners will consider approving a robust series of changes to the city’s stormwater ordinance proposed by the ad hoc committee. The rewritten ordinance now incorporates city guidelines for stormwater controls, which are currently listed in a separate document, into the ordinance, along with soil erosion and sedimentation control requirements mandated by state law. The change allows developers to easily access all environmental regulations and guidelines in one place. Commissioner Richard Lewis, who chaired the ad hoc committee, said the ordinance would also require annual certification from stormwater facility owners. “Right now they are installing them, but we want to have clarification every year to say, ‘How’s it working? Is it still meeting the requirements for when you installed them?’” he said.

The committee is also recommending reducing a compliance window for addressing violations from 10 days to 5 days. “Before, we were giving too much time,” Lewis said. “If there’s an issue, we want it to be dealt with much quicker than we’re doing now.”

Traverse City Downtown Development Authority (DDA) board members and city commissioners are also expected to have discussions in the coming weeks about a $47,000 study paid for by the DDA and completed by AECOM to develop a stormwater management plan for downtown. The plan could add stormwater upgrades to the list of projects funded by tax increment financing (TIF) 97 dollars, and also develop best practices for keeping downtown development from impacting the Boardman River and Grand Traverse Bay. Carruthers said stormwater management can be a “very challenging…and a very expensive ordeal” to undertake, but was crucial for the city to address. “Being a water coastal community, I think we do need to put our money where our mouth is,” he said.