ECUA Opens Cantonment’s First Residential Cooking Oil, Grease Disposal Station

March 31, 2015

Cantonment area residents can now dispose of their FOG — fats, oils and grease — for free in Cantonment.

Monday, ECUA installed a new residential cooking oil and grease disposal station at the Grocery Advantage, 736 North Highway 29. The station provides easy access and allows residents to dispose of their household cooking oil and grease in an environmentally safe and effective manner.

A majority of all sanitary sewage overflows are caused by the improper disposal of residential cooking fats, oils, and grease (FOG). These overflows are not just public health issues; they can potentially cause serious damage to the environment and pollute the water supply, according to ECUA.

ECUA Vice-Board Chairman (District Five) Dr. Larry Walker said, “The free empty container can be picked-up, filled  and exchanged for another empty one, ready to repeat the process. Once the cooking oil or grease is collected it’s then recycled as biodiesel fuel.” The free containers are available in a variety of sizes.

To reduce the amount of FOG, homeowners and businesses are asked to adhere to the following methods when disposing of fats, oils and grease:

  • Never pour FOG down the drain, sink or garbage disposal.
  • Pour FOG into jars, cans, and plastic tubs. Let contents cool and solidify. When the container is full, throw away with your trash.
  • Mix cooking oil with an absorbent material such as cat litter or coffee  grounds, place in a container (lid securely fastened) for disposal with your  trash.
  • For greasy pans, pour off the grease into a container, and use a paper towel to wipe out the remaining grease in the pan prior to washing.
  • Store the container in the freezer, which will keep the grease solid, and  pull it out whenever you have fats, oils and grease to dispose of. When it gets full, dump the whole container into the trash.

For more information on the ECUA FOG program and to locate other disposal stations, visit www.ecua.fl.gov or contact ECUA customer service at (850) 476-0480.

Pictured: Cantonment’s first cooking oil disposal station. (L-R)  ECUA FOG Inspector Kenny Lyons, Grocery Advantage Store Manager Wayne Wright, and ECUA FOG Inspector Kenyore Edwards. Photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.

Comments

6 Responses to “ECUA Opens Cantonment’s First Residential Cooking Oil, Grease Disposal Station”

  1. SHARLANA.D.SMITH on April 1st, 2015 4:16 pm

    I JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU…………..

    THANK YOU!!!!! AND THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

    FAMILIES OF CANTONMENT….

  2. Larry Walker on April 1st, 2015 3:27 pm

    ECUA is working on establishing other cooking oil disposal stations in north Escambia County, but for the time being the one at Grocery Advantage in Cantonment is available to one and all. Drop off your filled container and pick up one of the nice empty, clean containers waiting at the disposal station. My thanks to good friend Jim Dagen, Pineville Road, for bringing to my attention the fact that ECUA should establish such stations in the North End. Larry Walker, District 5 member, ECUA

  3. Henry Coe on March 31st, 2015 12:07 pm

    My brother in law has a diesel F-250 and while collecting used cooking oil took some work, he drove from South Florida to Ohio and back for about 10 dollars.
    He had a separate tank set up for the cooking oil with a splitter in the fuel line. He would start his engine with regular diesel and after his engine was warm enough, it would switch over to the cooking oil for fuel.
    When ever he was stopped and wanted to shut off his engine he would need to switch back to the diesel to purge the veggie fuel out of the fuel line so the engine would start when ready to leave.
    They saved a bunch of money using that system for about a decade. For health reasons it is too much for him to keep up with now. The fuel system up keep is constant and collecting the oil was physically demanding.

  4. OldMan on March 31st, 2015 11:45 am

    I’ve been saving all my old cooking oil in a 5 gallon bucket until full, strain it a few times with coffee filters and use it in my Case bulldozer for hydraulic fluid, works like a charm. Read about some university up north thats been using it in all their equipment for many years now so I decided to try it.

    Works for Me

  5. melodies4us on March 31st, 2015 7:20 am

    Not enough people realize how much cooking oil is used each day in this country. Scientists should be working on a way to refine used cooking oil for fuel , or possibly reuse. Think about EVERY restaurant, every institution, in addition to households. Their are 67 counties in Florida alone. Think of how many schools, hospitals, restaurants, etc. That’s a “sea” of oil.

  6. 429SCJ on March 31st, 2015 6:35 am

    I know of one person who burns bio-diesel in his diesel dually truck. I was surprised at how well it works.