JEA Investigates Grease Dumping, 3x Normal Amounts

[TheCat]

FROM www.News4Jax.com

ACKSONVILLE, Fla. -
JEA has come forward saying that customers are having to foot the bill for a major problem happening at the Mandarin Wastewater Treatment Facility.

The company said that in the last year the amount of grease the sewage facility disposes of has tripled and they believe it is due to illegal dumping.

According to JEA they believe the problems happening at the Mandarin Wastewater Treatment Facility are due to someone illegally pouring large amounts of grease into the sewer which is causing some costly problems for the city's sewage system and JEA customers.

"What we've seen is the grease coagulates and with it are the flushable wipes, which by the way are not flushable, and all sorts of other things that it actually tears up our system and we also have to pay for more grease to be hauled away," Gerri Boyce with JEA said.

According to JEA the Mandarin plant normally averages 90 tons of grease a year but this year, the plant averaged 162 tons with some recent estimates averaging as high as 314 tons.

JEA investigators believe that an unlicensed grease hauler could be working with restaurants collecting their grease and dumping it illegally.

To fight any illegal dumping that may be happening, JEA is asking its customers for help.

"If you're a commercial customer and you have a restaurant and you have what we call haulers, they haul away the grease, make sure that you hire a reputable company. Reputable companies have permits so they can dispose of the grease," Boyce said.

Boyce said last year that JEA spent $71,000 trying to fix the problem created by the excess grease and said that disposal cost has now skyrocketed to $280,000.

According to Boyce, though the amount of grease coming into their system is too big to be coming from individual homes, it can contribute to the problem.

"At home you should never pour grease down the drain, ever. What you need to do is pour grease into a can and wait till it cools and then dispose of it properly," Boyce said.

With the holidays coming up JEA also said to let turkey grease sit and cool before throwing it away. Also if someone sees a truck that is not JEA near a JEA manhole to please call the company.



http://www.news4jax.com/news/jea-investigating-possible-illegal-grease-dumping/36063590

[Dog Walker]

For a while there all of the grease from restaurants was being collected and sold to make bio-diesel.  Maybe the price of oil has dropped so far that even with the tax breaks it isn't profitable.