recycling ATF: Foolish or go for it ?

[mold maker]

Where I grew up all used motor oil was applied to keep down dust on the roads. Wonder how the EPA would fix that.

[pdumont01]

Used ATF burns really good in ford 7.3powerstrokes cut it with
Half diesel fuel.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[mdi]

Where I grew up all used motor oil was applied to keep down dust on the roads. Wonder how the EPA would fix that.

In CA you would be required to remove the "polluted" earth to as much a 4' below the surface. The offending earth would be put in drums and hauled away to a certified Ha-Mat dump. All done by a licensed Haz-Mat contractor, at your cost of course...

I worked for the City of L.A. and even city governments aren't free from the EPA. One site/yard used by the Power section was inspected and determined to be polluted by diesel fuel and transformer oil (60-70 trucks were parked there daily, and fueled on site, and many carried old, used transformers, some that leaked). The 12 acre site had to have 4 ft. of earth removed and replaced with "clean dirt". It took the city over 8 months to do this clean up...

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I think it was about 10 or 15 years ago, the State of MN mandated all gas stations have double or triple lined underground tanks. It took several years for all the gas stations to comply. When the old rusty single lined tanks were removed, the soil needed to be tested, if there was petroleum found in the dirt, the contaminated soil needed to be removed and dealt with. Now you can imagine how much of this contaminated soil there was with all the gas stations in the state replacing their tanks. One of the contractors, who had a license to do this work (Stewart Energy), is near Glencoe. A friend of mine works there. The owner, started this business on a farm site, and still lives there, He also owns a lot of excellent quality farmland.

He was paid by the State to take all the contaminated soil in our area ...and here is what he did with the contaminated soil, with a special permit from the State, He spread it on a one of his 160 acre corn fields, upto, but not exceeding 6" deep . He was to Plow it at least once a year, but no more than twice a year. He planted corn, the third year and there were no noticed ill effects, the corn harvest was same/similar as nearby fields. He made millions and millions of dollars on that deal.

[DerekP Houston]

In CA you would be required to remove the "polluted" earth to as much a 4' below the surface. The offending earth would be put in drums and hauled away to a certified Ha-Mat dump. All done by a licensed Haz-Mat contractor, at your cost of course...

I worked for the City of L.A. and even city governments aren't free from the EPA. One site/yard used by the Power section was inspected and determined to be polluted by diesel fuel and transformer oil (60-70 trucks were parked there daily, and fueled on site, and many carried old, used transformers, some that leaked). The 12 acre site had to have 4 ft. of earth removed and replaced with "clean dirt". It took the city over 8 months to do this clean up...

So...in another year you'll have the exact same mess on the "clean dirt" on that 12 acre site? Seems like that would contaminate an even greater area in my mind. I know city vehicles around here are maintained just enough to keep them running, so leaks and spills are bound to happen eventually.

[303Guy]

Where I grew up all used motor oil was applied to keep down dust on the roads. Wonder how the EPA would fix that.

I made the observation that grass grew really well in soil contaminated with used motor oil. The dirty oil would kill existing grass but new grass growing in from the sides did very well. I suspect it held moisture better.

[Traffer]

As long as it isn't burned (discolored), let it settle and use it for anything you want. I would even put it back in the dang car. (My Honda ATF Costs $14 a quart) I let it in there too long and it is kind of brown. I sure with I hadn't done that. Honda transmissions are delicate and I don't want to replace it. It is slipping a tiny bit now when I first start out. The guy at the parts store said it was from the new ATF that Honda is forcing us to use. It is fully synthetic as opposed to their old stuff which was semi synthetic or so they say. I will tell you one thing though. The super thin fully synthetic ATF is amazing stuff for cleaning. It works way better than regular ATF. It is all I use now for cleaning guns. Oh, I don't call transmissions "tranny's" anymore. It has become such a disgusting word lately.

[Traffer]

Hah! When I was in high school (in the 60's) I had a friend who's dad started a junk yard in their back yard. It was a wonderful place for a kid to grow up. I hung out there a lot. Anyway, I asked him why his dad started a junk yard as he didn't work on cars and really didn't even know anything about cars. To my surprise he said that his dad thought that if he let the cars rust there for 10 or 15 years it would make the soil grow stuff like crazy. He believed it. Maybe it's true. It is hard to think that battery acid antifreeze oil and transmission fluid would be good for the soil though.

I made the observation that grass grew really well in soil contaminated with used motor oil. It dirty oil would kill existing grass but new grass growing in from the sides did very well. I suspect it held moisture better.

[Shiloh]

Buy it new. I'ts cheap.

Shiloh

[popper]

grass grew really well in soil contaminated with used motor oil Kills weeds and bugs too. La. used kerosene type compound to kill off mosquitoes and cudsu. EPA won't let us pour it around the foundation anymore to get rid of pests. Do note that antifreeze attracts termites.

[solderboy]

I would think for the price, buying new fresh ATF would be the smart route.

[NavyVet1959]

grass grew really well in soil contaminated with used motor oil Kills weeds and bugs too. La. used kerosene type compound to kill off mosquitoes and cudsu. EPA won't let us pour it around the foundation anymore to get rid of pests. Do note that antifreeze attracts termites.

Well, we also used to spray the dirt roads with a used motor oil mixture to keep down the dust and people in town would just dump their used motor oil in the storm drains... Things sure have changed...

[mcdaniel.mac]

Well, we also used to spray the dirt roads with a used motor oil mixture to keep down the dust and people in town would just dump their used motor oil in the storm drains... Things sure have changed...

Yeah, turns out that's not great for the environment, and not great for people when the dust starts picking up. The only thing that changed is that we know more.

[Silverboolit]

The EPA has fits if it sees any oil spilled on the ground. How do they react when they see thousands of miles of black top/asphalt roads. Isn't asphalt a mixture of oil and other stuff?