| Nov. 21, 2008
LONG BEACH – The Queen Mary’s legendary black and orange smoke stacks,
visible from miles away, got a “green” paint makeover and for their efforts,
the ship’s operators received a commendation from the South Coast Air
Quality Management District today.
The famous vessel went above and beyond the requirements of AQMD's stringent
Rule 1113 – Architectural Coatings and used a water-based paint that
contains ultra-low emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), a major
contributor to smog-formation.
The AQMD also launched a user-friendly website today for painters, which
includes an expanded list of super-compliant paints, links to paint
manufacturers, helpful “green” painting tips and more. It can be found at
http://www.aqmd.gov/prdas/Coatings/CoatingsMainPage.html.
“The Queen Mary has set an example for other businesses in the South Coast
Air Basin, and perhaps around the country, in choosing to use a water-based
paint with very low emissions for its smoke stack beautification project,”
said Long Beach Councilwoman and AQMD Governing Board Member Tonia Reyes
Uranga during an event today at The Queen Mary. “If more businesses followed
suit and made environmentally friendly choices, the improvements in air
quality would be significant.”
The historic, world-class hotel, purchased by Hostmark Hospitality Group
over a year ago, has made a commitment to “go green” with improvements to
the ship, located in an area adjacent to the Ports of Long Beach and Los
Angeles and highly impacted by port air pollution. Using low-VOC paint does
not eliminate smog, Uranga said, but it can make a significant impact on air
quality in the region.
Rule 1113 – Architectural Coatings regulates products used and sold in the
South Coast Basin. The purpose of the rule, first adopted in 1977, is to
limit smog formation by restricting the VOC content of architectural
coatings used, including primers, sealers, undercoaters, stains, sealers,
floor coatings and topcoats.
Ozone is one of the major air pollutants that affect human health. The
highly reactive gas reacts chemically with many biological systems leading
to a variety of health complications. It can cause headaches, allergic
reactions and reduce breathing capacity.
Because chemical reactions take place in the presence of sunlight, ozone
pollution is a concern during the summer months when the ideal weather
conditions needed to form ground-level ozone occur.
The average emissions from architectural coatings are 23 tons per day – a
vast improvement from the past when more than 74 tons of smog-forming
pollutants were being released into the air on a daily basis from all of the
residential and business painting projects occurring in the region.
During the event today at the Queen Mary, Richard Hart, Ph.D., a chemist and
the vice president and technical director of JFB Hart Coatings, Inc., was
also recognized. Dr. Hart has been instrumental in researching and
developing the technology that has led to the creation of zero- to low-VOC
coatings used to paint the Queen Mary’s smoke stacks. He too is committed to
improving air quality through the reduction of volatile organic compounds in
architectural paint.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
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