DDOE: Coal Tar Ban in the District of Columbia

Effective July 1, 2009, it is illegal to sell, use, or permit the use of coal-tar pavement products on your property, subject to a daily fine of $2,500. The District Government issued this ban to protect human health and our environment.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are highly toxic chemicals that have known harmful impacts on humans and animals and are suspected to cause cancer. Concentrations of toxic PAHs in coal-tar-based pavement sealants are about 1000 times higher than in alternative asphalt-based products.

Rainwater washes toxic, PAH-containing sealant particles and dust down stormdrains and into our local streams and rivers, threatening aquatic life in the Anacostia and Potomac Rivers
and the Chesapeake Bay. Dust from coal-tar-sealed parking lots contains about 80 times more PAHs than dust from unsealed lots.

How can you help?

DO NOT USE or ALLOW contractors to use coal-tar-based sealant on your parking lot, driveway, etc. Contractors and distributors should provide a Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) that lists product ingredients or components. Do not use products with ingredients that include the words “coal,” “tar,” “refined coal tar pitch,” or “RT-12.”
DEMAND the use of a much less toxic asphalt-based sealer instead of coal-tar-based products. Don’t allow a mixed product containing both coal tar and asphalt to be used. For new projects, consider using porous concrete.
CALL 311 if you suspect coal-tar pavement products are being used somewhere. Coal-tar-based products have a strong creosote smell (smells like a telephone pole).
Homeowners may DISPOSE of unused sealant products at District Household Hazardous Waste Disposal sites.

Did you know?

There are good alternatives to coal-tar-based pavement sealants. Asphalt-based pavement sealers dominate use in the western US; coal-tar-based pavement sealers dominate use in the central and eastern US.
Dust from coal-tar sealed parking lots contains about 3 times more toxic PAHs than undiluted used motor oil.
PAHs are toxic to mammals (including humans), birds, fish, amphibians and invertebrates.

Additional Resources

Press release on the coal tar ban
Comprehensive Stormwater Management Enhancement Amendment Act of 2008*
Austin, Texas coal tar ban (first in the nation; enacted January 2006)
US Geological Survey research on the impact of coal-tar pavement products

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