A little problem with a certain chemical - and the EPA
The EPA has done it again. From the
London Daily Mail:
EPA nominee to get tough questions about why she approved new car air-conditioning refrigerant that caused ENGINE FIRES in Mercedes-Benz tests
Gina McCarthy, who faces a hearing Thursday morning on her fitness to serve as EPA administrator, was primarily responsible for EPA's promotion of an automotive air conditioning refrigerant that caused engine fires in Mercedes Benz testing, MailOnline can report.
McCarthy, EPA's current air regulation chief, 'provided the real forward motion' for a plan to reward US automakers who used the new climate-change-friendly refrigerant known as 'HFO-1234yf,' according to an EPA staffer with knowledge of the agency's internal processes who spoke on condition of anonymity.
When her EPA subagency, the Office of Air and Radiation, approved HOF-1234yf, McCarthy said that the chemical 'helps fight climate change and ozone depletion.'
But a test in Germany:
A Daimler engineer told Reuters in December that his team was 'frozen in shock' when they saw test after test of HOF-1234yf turn a car's engine compartment into an inferno after small leaks were simulated.
'I am not going to deny it,' Stefan Geyer said. 'We needed a day to comprehend what we had just seen.'
Mercedes has released a video showing the conflagration, and comparing it to a nonflammable leak of the industry's standard refrigerant, known as R134A.
The fireball that engulfed their precision engines was caused by a mixture of the refrigerant and air-conditioning compressor oil spraying across the engine block, producing a quick-heated mixture of toxic gas, including hydrogen fluoride - a corrosive compound that can destroy skin after the briefest of exposures and quickly cause blindness.
The article goes into the background -- DuPont and Honeywell share most of the patents for this refrigerant and are lobbying Washington. Crony Capitalism at its finest.
Rope. Tree. Some assembly required.
If people do not want to go that far, some serious jail time would be in order. If this was done in the private sector, these people would be facing 30 years behind bars.
Posted by DaveH at April 11, 2013 7:58 PM