Dangers of Oil to Our Environment - Stop Oil Spills

Published:

01/31/2023

Oil spills contaminate the soil and water which can cause explosions and fires. To ensure proper disposal of waste oil consider getting a Clean Burn Waste Oil Heater. Not only are they a clean way to dispose of oil, but they also heat your shop saving you money on transfer costs and utilities.

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1. Contain Hazardous Chemicals

These oils are considered hazardous waste because they contain lead, cadmium, benzene, naphthalene, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and other toxic chemicals.

Also, used motor oil is insoluble, persistent, sticky, slow to degrade, and can result in pollution of drinkable water sources.

2. Improper Disposal

In the United States alone, there are over 1.3 billion gallons of waste oil produced every year, and 200 million gallons of those oil byproducts are disposed of incorrectly. Used motor oils are typically not recycled due to their viscosity and high cost of processing.

Did you know: Used oil from a single oil change can contaminate 1 million gallons of fresh water.

3. Disrupts Ecosystems

In most circumstances oil floats on the surface of water and spreads out quickly creating a thin oil slick recognizable by having a rainbow appearance. In rare cases oil can sink if it’s heavy enough.

This becomes a huge liability to marine life and ecosystems disrupting population numbers, habitats, food, etc. Wildlife can be injured or in severe instances killed due ingesting oil (from cleaning their exposed fur or prey). Population numbers can dwindle due to health and reproductive issues (deaths are higher than births).

Humans can also be directly impacted by ingesting contaminated fish or shellfish (oysters, shrimp, mahi-mahi, grouper, swordfish, tuna, etc.).

Did you know: Since 1969, there have been at least 44 oil spills of more than 10,000 barrels in US waters. That's roughly 420,000 gallons of petroleum.

4. Cradle-to-Grave Liability Issues

Improper disposal is illegal. Many fail to realize their complete cradle-to-grave requirements for complying with the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) regulations.

The RCRA laws mean that regardless of how you choose to dispose of your waste oil, you are responsible for the proper disposal. When you purchase a cheap system or even use a DIY waste oil heater, you cannot guarantee that it will properly dispose of the waste oil and meet EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) standards.

5. Expenses

In 2019 the annual cost to import crude oil was $57.94 a barrel. The US imported 9.14 million barrels a day and exported 8.47 million barrels a day.

In 2018 the annual cost to import crude oil was $60.95 a barrel. The US imported 10.14 million barrels a day and exported 6.38 million barrels per day.

Imagine how much money would be saved from foreign oil imports if used oil was recycled properly from cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, farms equipment and lawnmowers.

Did you know: In 2020 for the first time in over 73 years the annual total petroleum net imports were negative (the US exported more than imports).

6. Deplete Natural Resources

There are 4 major types of non-renewable resources, oil being one of them. This means there is limited supply and once its depleted, it can’t be replaced. This makes finding ways of recycling it even more imperative because humanity relies on it heavily for production of gasoline and diesel fuel, and manufacturing.

Did you know: Recycled used motor oil can be re-refined into new oil, processed into fuel oils, and used as raw materials for the petroleum industry.

Roughly 4 million people reuse motor oil as a lubricant for other equipment or take it to a recycling facility.

7. Pollution

Oil pollution can be caused from any spillage or refined products. Common mishaps include, petroleum spills, bunker fuel (fuel oil used by marine vessels) from tankers, drill platforms, barges or ships, broken pipelines, or blowouts of wells.

The impact of oil pollution can vary drastically from minimal damage to extinction of everything in its path. Side effects caused by oil pollution can cause short-term or long-term side effects, or both in some instances to the local ecosystems. Recovery time can take as little as under a year to over 25 years.