COUNTY OIL WAGON SEEKS TO STOP HOME DUMPING.Byline: Christopher Noxon Daily News Staff Writer They call it the oil wagon. The $35,000 truck recently purchased by Ventura County comes with a 500-gallon double-walled tank, a giant trash dispenser and even a bathroom. Stopped in parking lots and on curbsides throughout the county, the wagon was designed to lure do-it-yourself oil changers
The Changers are a fictional group of anti-hero published by Wildstorm an imprint of DC Comics. to recycle oil with payouts of 16 cents per gallon. Officials bought the wagon to pick up a portion of the thousands of gallons of motor oil that seep into the groundwater every year. While the county has authorized 79 businesses to collect used oil, many people still dump the toxic liquid down the drain. ``A frightening number of people think it's harmless to dump oil in their back yard - they figure nothing will get hurt, since it's in their own property,'' said David Goldstein David Goldstein is a radio talk show host and blogger in Seattle, Washington. He hosts "The David Goldstein Show" on Saturdays and Sundays on 710 KIRO. Goldstein first gained notoriety in 2003 for Initiative 831, which would have officially proclaimed Washington State political , a Ventura County Solid Waste Department analyst. ``What they don't realize is that under their back yard is the groundwater table. A little oil goes a long way.'' Motor oil contains arsenic arsenic (är`sənĭk), a semimetallic chemical element; symbol As; at. no. 33; at. wt. 74.9216; m.p. 817°C; (at 28 atmospheres pressure); sublimation point 613°C;; sp. gr. (stable form) 5.73; valence −3, 0, +3, or +5. , lead, magnesium, copper, zinc, chromium chromium (krō`mēəm) [Gr.,=color], metallic chemical element; symbol Cr; at. no. 24; at. wt. 51.996; m.p. about 1,857°C;; b.p. 2,672°C;; sp. gr. about 7.2 at 20°C;; valence +2, +3, +6. and chlorides, all of which can kill fish and wildlife, Goldstein said. Spills of used oil are regularly discovered by environmental inspectors. Existing recycling centers include gas and oil-change stations and auto parts Auto parts are components of automobiles. They mainly are, in alphabetic order (only car specific articles or articles with car section):
``It's very hard to get permits for a permanent station,'' he said. ``But with the mobile facility we can come in, collect the oil and get out in a weekend. There's a lot less opposition from neighbors.'' The wagon is the latest step in an extensive public campaign to prevent the disposal of old motor oil. County officials have stenciled curbside curb·side n. 1. The side of a pavement or street that is bordered by a curb. 2. A sidewalk. adj. Located, operating, or occurring at or along the sidewalk or curb: storm drains storm drain n. 1. A storm sewer. 2. A catch basin. , erected billboards at the county fairground racetrack and sponsored advertising to encourage recycling. The campaign was financed by a state grant. The trailer was given a trial run last weekend with a stop at a recycling center that opened off Main Street in Piru, which didn't have any place to take used motor oil. The truck will make stops in larger communities in east Ventura County in the coming months. For information on the nearest place to recycle oil, call (805) 654-2010. |
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