Abstract

GONZALEZ VALENCIA, Alejandro  and  GOMEZ GALLO, María Helena. Environmental analysis and technical mechanical dump trucks sector in the metropolitan area of Valle de Aburrá. Rev. P+L [online]. 2010, vol.5, n.1, pp.39-57. ISSN 1909-0455.

Intoduction. The Secretaría del Medio Ambiente of Medellín and the Área Metropolitana del Valle de Aburrá are working on a project for the implementation of actions for cleaner production in the dump trucks sector in the Aburrá Valley´s Metropolitan Area,aiming to make the technical-mechanical and environmental diagnose of 1000 dump trucks and 14 companies of the sector, and establish a base for the environmental authorities to get information about their weaknesses and strengths under environmental terms. Objective. To characterize the environmental performance of 1000 dump trucks that circulate in the Aburrá Valley´s Metopolitan Area. Materials and Methods. Opacity tests and technical, mechanical and visual revisions to the vehicles were made, plus visits to the companies of the sector in order to determine the generation and disposal of dangerous and special waste, and also the follow up and the analysis of environmental indicators. The information was then compared with current laws to contrast the results obtained with the compliance of the norms environmental authorities currently demand. Results. The number of dump trucks rejected in the second revision was considerably lower than that from the first, but it is important to insist on the necessity of implementing prevention maintenance during thee vehicles ´ service time, specially for those that belong to independent workers or contractors.To avoid contamination inside and outside of some of the companies visited, cleaner production actions must be focused on the disposal of dangerous and special waste. Conclusions. The lack of prevention maintenance plans in the companies evaluated and for the vehicles that belong to independent owners has a high direct influence on the results of the opacity and the technical-mechanical tests. Part of the maintenance of such vehicles is made by third parties, so companies do not have a direct control on them.Therefore,companies will have to commit much more to exercise that control of the fuel consumption records and other inputs used in the maintenance of the vehicles. Current information about some entities and third parties is not enough, so the estimation of the base line to define goals of fuel reduction per kilometer, among other indicators, is difficult at this moment.

Keywords : dump trucks; opacity levels; environmental pollution; self-regulation program; actions for cleaner production.

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