I witnessed the unthinkable (epa violation)

[pacnw]

sounds to me like it's new job time!!!

for financial gain, a video of this practice would do wonders for you.

[matt1124]

Personally I don't buy into the whole global warming thing. Do I recover every time? You betchya. I'm an in house guy and R22 comes straight out of the same fund I use to buy tools. I can buy it from the wholesaler at X/lb or I can send off recovery and have it cleaned to ARI 700 for (.25 * X)/lb. Environment be damned or not, that stuff is liquid gold.

I like your by the books attitude, don't let a loser like that jade you of a rewarding career. Go find a job at a company that wants to do things properly. Bet he didn't have a vacuum pump on the truck either LOL.

[JKerch]

Sounds to me like the company's standard are too low and a new job is in order, too

[timebuilder]

I would start looking.

I never vent like that.

However...

I think that calling it "unspeakable" is a gross overstatement.

In fact, you would have to believe that everything the EPA says is gospel, that there is no possibility that what they say is in any way innaccurate, and that the venting you witnessed will surely have dire consequences for a fragile planet that can be irreparably damaged by man.

And, I would opine that none of those beliefs would be true and correct.

[mason]

No, i felt intimidated by him and walked away, i thought the guy in the van would have the sense to carry the stuff to the job, i drove there in the company pickup truck and had no idea what the other guy had in his van, he had no recovery equipment that's for sure.

Then the problem is at the top. That's what you should look at with any company, from the top down. As long as ownership and management is solid then one bad apple employee is not a big deal, in that kind of situation for all you know you were hired to get trained up and replace the problem child.

If you're going to leave, don't just quit and walk out the door, do your best while you're there, try to influence who you can, and shop around for a job stressing that you want to do things the right way.

[Fridge_expert]

I would start looking.

I never vent like that.

However...

I think that calling it "unspeakable" is a gross overstatement.

In fact, you would have to believe that everything the EPA says is gospel, that there is no possibility that what they say is in any way innaccurate, and that the venting you witnessed will surely have dire consequences for a fragile planet that can be irreparably damaged by man.

And, I would opine that none of those beliefs would be true and correct.

It's the almost 40000$ fine and possible jail time and epa certification revocation I'm worried about here, sure i care about the planet and all that though my primary concern with the epa is staying out of trouble. That's why venting is an unthinkable/unspeakable horror, at least in my eyes.

[Fridge_expert]

Then the problem is at the top. That's what you should look at with any company, from the top down. As long as ownership and management is solid then one bad apple employee is not a big deal, in that kind of situation for all you know you were hired to get trained up and replace the problem child.

If you're going to leave, don't just quit and walk out the door, do your best while you're there, try to influence who you can, and shop around for a job stressing that you want to do things the right way.

you can trust that I'm taking my time with this one, i do things the correct way No matter what anybody would say otherwise (obvious things like brazing technique, epa regs, electrical safety, ppe, and osha things), if they Want mE to not recover refrigerant or to use my judgment wisely then that means it's time for a new crew. Yeah burning bridges is not the best idea, and i am trying here to make a positive impression on these folks, but i just can't mess around with epa laws or anything that jeopardizes my future.

[SBKold]

There has never ever been a case where the Epa has put away a tech or contractor.

Never fined one either. And noone ever has collected that reward money.

[viceman]

i bet that 99% of the members on this board have vented refer. i would also bet that only 1% would ever admit it.

[Fridge_expert]

i bet that 99% of the members on this board have vented refer. i would also bet that only 1% would ever admit it.

If you worked before the clean air act then it's almost 100% certain you would have vented refrigerant

[mason]

i would also bet that only 1% would ever admit it.

well, we are in an open area of the forum ; ).

[Joehvac25]

It's the almost 40000$ fine and possible jail time and epa certification revocation I'm worried about here, sure i care about the planet and all that though my primary concern with the epa is staying out of trouble. That's why venting is an unthinkable/unspeakable horror, at least in my eyes.

Wow this is funny

[jtrammel]

It's the almost 40000$ fine and possible jail time and epa certification revocation I'm worried about here, sure i care about the planet and all that though my primary concern with the epa is staying out of trouble. That's why venting is an unthinkable/unspeakable horror, at least in my eyes.

I got pulled over by the EPA police the other day, cuffed and taken to EPA jail where al gore interrogated me. They had accusations of me farting in a public park, luckily they had no video evidence so they let me go with a warning this time... Whew.

[mason]

It's the almost 40000$ fine and possible jail time and epa certification revocation I'm worried about here, sure i care about the planet and all that though my primary concern with the epa is staying out of trouble. That's why venting is an unthinkable/unspeakable horror, at least in my eyes.

You need to chill, rapeing and murdering a child is an unthinkable horror, the holocaust is an unthinkable horror, venting refrigerant is a slap on the hand kind of offense, repeated venting just because you don't care warrants a fine in my opinion and maybe some required education hours.

Don't be a punk, I hope the worst thing you see in this industry is venting refrigerant, the things you really need to watch out for are the life threatening cases of negligence or the criminals looking to take advantage of customers or even the company they work for.

[Fridge_expert]

I got pulled over by the EPA police the other day, cuffed and taken to EPA jail where al gore interrogated me. They had accusations of me farting in a public park, luckily they had no video evidence so they let me go with a warning this time... Whew.

TECHNICALLY, venting a fart isn't a violation because it wasn't being used as a full 100% refrigerant charge, being used as an aerosol or with nitrogen for leak detection it wouldn't be a problem now would it?

[Fridge_expert]

You need to chill, rapeing and murdering a child is an unthinkable horror, the holocaust is an unthinkable horror, venting refrigerant is a slap on the hand kind of offense, repeated venting just because you don't care warrants a fine in my opinion and maybe some required education hours.

Don't be a punk, I hope the worst thing you see in this industry is venting refrigerant, the things you really need to watch out for are the life threatening cases of negligence or the criminals looking to take advantage of customers or even the company they work for.

The unit I helped change out was a 30 year old Carrier round condenser with one of those bristle coil things and a load of decaying wire (we replaced the whip)....when I opened the disconnect after shutting it off I noticed there was no ground bonded to the case of the disconnect switch, now that would be something more life-threatening if left unaddressed. this is at a preschool with kids running around too..

[penderway]

There has never ever been a case where the Epa has put away a tech or contractor.

Never fined one either. And noone ever has collected that reward money.

There is no shame in being misinformed SB, I bet you're right about no one going to jail, but early on it was newsworthy when someone got fined.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/ar...g-Refrigerant/

http://www.achrnews.com/articles/r-2...ng-yields-fine

Only notable companies or really large amounts make the news nowadays, and thankfully that doesn't seem to be happening anymore. Reporting can be done anonymously so finding articles that reference someone collecting the reward money is unlikely.


To the OP and others, using over the top, descriptive language like "unspeakable horror" and "be a punk" can and will cause flaming. Although it's sometimes entertaining, IMO it's generally not helpful or informative.

[Fridge_expert]

There is no shame in being misinformed SB, I bet you're right about no one going to jail, but early on it was newsworthy when someone got fined.

http://www.buildinggreen.com/auth/ar...g-Refrigerant/

http://www.achrnews.com/articles/r-2...ng-yields-fine

Only notable companies or really large amounts make the news nowadays, and thankfully that doesn't seem to be happening anymore. Reporting can be done anonymously so finding articles that reference someone collecting the reward money is unlikely.


To the OP and others, using over the top, descriptive language like "unspeakable horror" and "be a punk" can and will cause flaming. Although it's sometimes entertaining, IMO it's generally not helpful or informative.

I do apologize for being over the top, though i will say i was pretty angry about what happened

[timebuilder]

It's the almost 40000$ fine and possible jail time and epa certification revocation I'm worried about here, sure i care about the planet and all that though my primary concern with the epa is staying out of trouble. That's why venting is an unthinkable/unspeakable horror, at least in my eyes.

I can certainly agree that a fine IS a big deal, and I also agree that each and EVERY tech should follow the laws that have been duly passed by the legislature, even if they have pushed that responsibility to unaccountable regulators, in violation of the US Constitution.

That said, there is no wholesale agreement among the scientists whose livelihood does not depend on universities with climate biases, and independent funding and advocacy groups, that the actions you described does indeed constitute harm to our planet.

In fact, the scandal involving emails among these well funded, so-called "scientists" in Great Britain, adds a taint that makes any sane person wonder just whose agenda is being propelled, and why.

So, I recommend you take some time to gain some more life experience before you let all of the public school propaganda tempt you into believing that this all science, free of economics and politics (mostly anti-capitalist politics, to be sure) and get some more wisdom under your belt before you allow yourself to become horrified.

[Mike19]

i bet that 99% of the members on this board have vented refer. i would also bet that only 1% would ever admit it.

I bet you're right.