By Elisabeth Pernicone and Shawntina Phillips
Dec. 1, 2009
Last summer’s Cash for Clunkers Program collected 700,000 used cars, according to the United States Department of Transportation. Although it was successful in giving Americans a $3,500 or $4,500 credit for a new fuel-efficient car, the environment could need a rebate of its own.
“Automobiles have a lot of fluids that can be hazardous to the environment,” said Christine Grossman, enforcement specialist at the Waste and Hazardous Materials Division of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “Some fluids are spilled or released as gases into the environment and result in problems with clean up and air emission.”
According to the Steel Recycling Institute, the automobile is the most recycled consumer product in the North America. Each year, 75 percent of steel in a car is recycled. That’s more than aluminum cans, paper, plastic and glass combined. Many recycled automobile parts go back into making shiny new vehicles. However, what isn’t reused can often be improperly disposed of harming the environment and humans, according to Michigan’s environmental agency.
Removing liquids such as mercury from the hood and trunk light switches or oil, gasoline and transmission fluid from the engine can contaminate soil and water. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and state government enforce disposal and recycling laws for salvage yards.
Since 2008 the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality inspected 39 salvage yards and metal scrap refineries. Twenty-two were cited for violations. Offenses included unpermitted discharges and violating stormwater run-off laws.
Salvage yards that have pipes, ditches or channels nearby carrying stormwater runoff to rivers, lakes or streams are required to have a stormwater permit. They are also required to have a prevention plan to ensure chemicals are not released during heavy rainstorms.
Chemical of Most Concern
Mercury from auto switches, oil and gasoline most frequently seeps into groundwater and runoff said Amy Kohlhepp, a specialist in the Water Bureau Program at the Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality. Often the Clean Water Act, which was enacted in 1972 to eliminate high levels of toxic substances in water bodies, is violated. Businesses can be charged $2,500-$25,000 per violation per day, said Kohlhepp.
Exposure to mercury can cause neurological problems and developmental problems in infants. It can also impair peripheral vision, speech, hearing and walking and cause muscle weakness, according to the EPA.
In 1996 about 11.2 tons of mercury were used in automobiles made in the United States according to the Washington Toxics Coalition, a non-profit organization that educates people on environmental issues. Mercury was used in U.S. automobiles prior to 2000 to activate convenience lighting in hoods and trunks. It is currently used in some antilock brake systems.
A 2008 study published by the National Automobile Dealer Association said that 50 percent of cars driven in the U.S. are at least 9.4 years old. That means about 50 percent of cars on the road still contain mercury switches. The amount of mercury found in a typical trunk switch, if released into the environment, may be enough to make fish in a 20-acre lake too contaminated to eat, according to the Washington Toxics Coalition.
“Some say mercury is the biggest problem from a water quality perspective,” said Grossman, who works with pollution prevention at the state’s environmental agency. “It can collect in fish that live in inland lakes, such as pike and walleyes.”
It is hard to determine one chemical that is most hazardous, Grossman said.
“Some water bodies may have a certain chemical already present, and the addition of a little more may be a big deal,” she said.
Robert Wallace, a worker at 360° Resource salvage yard in Eau Claire, Mich., believes that each of these chemicals can cause environmental harm if not recycled or disposed of properly. Freon, found in some air conditioners, is the most harmful for air quality because of its potential to turn into a gas, he said.
Freon contains chlorofluorocarbon, which can damage the earth’s ozone layer. Gases can escape into the environment unless a trained professional ensures it is contained when removing it. Freon was phased out from use in developed nations by 1996. However, it is currently allowed to be used to fix older automobiles.
Americans still drive cars that precede the removal of freon. According to the Center for American Progress Action Fund, 25 percent of cars on the road are 13-years-old or older. Freon vapor exposure in low concentrations may cause eye, nose and throat irritation. Exposure in high concentrations may cause dizziness, headache and seizures.
A Model Salvage Yard
The 360° Resource salvage yard boasts that is uses environmental friendly practices. Wallace said 360° Resource workers do all the chemical draining and recycling inside of a building.
“The inside of our workshop is all concrete; if oil happens to leak it will not get into the soil,” he said. “Most other salvage yards do their work outside in open fields.”
Oil drained from automobiles is reused to heat their facility, while extracted gasoline is used to power machinery, Wallace said.
This salvage yard invented the Auto Tap, a piece of equipment that allows the automobile to sit high above ground while oil, antifreeze, gasoline and transmission fluid quickly drain according to EPA standard. The chemicals can then be stored easily.
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