Cullman County citizens will soon have a place to deposit their used motor oil.
Associate County Commissioner Robert Harbison will receive a used motor oil collection tank for its Westside road department Friday where he will allow people to bring their oil.
"We're just making sure that the oil doesn't get into the ground and into Smith Lake," he said.
The tank will be donated by Project R.O.S.E. (Recycled Oil Saves Energy), an educational and public outreach program to collect motor oil sponsored by the University of Alabama.
Sheri Powell, project coordinator, said oil has contaminants like lead and cadmium that can kill wildlife and cause health problems in humans.
"It's important that we collect it and keep it out of the soil," she said. "It eventually gets in our water."
The program tries to reach consumers who change their own motor oil and are mostly responsible for illegally dumped oil. Project R.O.S.E. educates those consumers to secure oil in a tightly-enclosed container and to take it to a collection site.
Oil is transported from the collection sites to waste oil processing plants where it is recycled.
| |
Motor oil facts- Used motor oil from a single oil change (about one gallon) can ruin a million gallons of fresh water- a year's supply for 50 people.
- An estimated 200 million gallons of used motor oil is improperly disposed of each year in the U.S. by being dumped on the ground, tossed in the trash, and poured down storm sewers and drains.
- Recycling used oil would save the U.S. 1.3 million barrels of oil per day.
-
Americans throw away enough used motor oil every day to fill 120 supertankers.
Courtesy of Project R.O.S.E. |
Powell said the oil is put back into automobiles, used as a heating oil or as a lubricating oil.
The program's objective is to recycle all motor oil.
"We want every drop of it," Powell said, adding she is pleased to see the county offer a public collection site.
Harbison said people can empty their containers of oil into the 500 gallon tank during the road department's hours of operation Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
The department is located just off of County Road 222 in Trimble. |
|