I don't think that they would throw some 10 mole Hydrochloric acid on a street to get oil stains out. Maybe a mild soultion of 3 mole or so would provide for a mild cleaing action. Keep in mind all acids will react with metal, some stronger than others, however the bottom line is that they eat metal. A strong base such as NaOH will take paint off without harming metal. Oh and I think 10M HCL would eat through concrete. 10 mole HCL is some strong stuff, however if the state department is going to go that far why don't they just spray some 18 mole H2SO4, and see what happend then.
[Edited by CaptAlex300e on 12-06-2000 at 05:00 PM]