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HomeNewsArchivesPUBLIC WORKS IMPLEMENTS RECYCLING OF MOTOR OIL

PUBLIC WORKS IMPLEMENTS RECYCLING OF MOTOR OIL

May 22, 2003 – Residents of St. Croix now have an environmentally sound option for disposing of their used motor oil. Pursuant to a consent order issued by the federal government, the Public Works Department delivered its first truckload of used oil to the Hovensa refinery on Wednesday for recycling.
DPW's commissioner, Wayne Callwood, said his department was directed by the Environmental Protection Agency to develop a plan to collect, store and dispose of used oil from "do-it-yourself-ers" — those people who change their vehicles' motor oil themselves.
"Over the past couple of years, the improper disposal of used motor oil has become an increased problem in the territory," Callwood said in a release. He said the local government joined with Hovensa — which he called "one of the territory's most environmentally conscious corporate partners" — to address the problem.
EPA officials visited St. Croix last summer for a public hearing on the proposed consent order, which is intended to bring the territory in line with a 1995 agreement with the federal government. With Public Works staffing shortages over the years cited as the reason, the program began to fall flat, leading the EPA to propose the consensual agreement order.
The original plan was for Public Works, using transfer trucks provided then by the EPA, to pick up the used oil at collection sites. The current plan requires the department to go back to that practice, using specially trained drivers.
From 1995 until this week, only 17 truckloads of used motor oil had been delivered by Public Works to Hovensa. Almost 3 million gallons of motor oil are shipped to the territory annually.
Commercial generators of used oil currently ship their waste product off-island at their own cost. According to the new plan, they would instead pay for the cost of transferring the oil to Hovensa on St. Croix and to the Water and Power Authority on St. Thomas for burning.
"Used motor oil contains significant concentrations of toxic substances," Leonard Grossman, EPA project coordinator, said at the meeting last summer. Among those substances are arsenic, chromium and lead. Each "presents an endangerment to human and animal health, as well as to environmental health," he said.
Another mandate is that the V.I. government come up with a way to fund the project. The 1995 plan envisioned start-up costs of about $1 million and annual operating costs of more than $350,000. Those figures may be outdated, Grossman said last summer. The Thursday release from Public Works did not include information about the project's funding.
Wednesday's oil delivery marked the commencement of what Public Works is calling the Do-It-Yourself Program. Residents may drop off up to five gallons of used oil per month at the department's Anna's Hope compound. The oil must be free of contaminants such as dirt, leaves, brake or transmission fluid, antifreeze and solvents, Callwood said.
The drop-off site is open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m.
Callwood said a similar oil-management agreement between Public Works and WAPA for the St. Thomas-St. John district is being reviewed.
The St. Thomas drop-off site is at the Public Works motor pool facility in Sub Base. For St. John, it's at the department's Susannaberg location. Both are open weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
For more information, call 773-1290.

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