Waste lubricating oil disposal practices in providence, Rhode Island: Potential significance to coastal water quality

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Abstract
A 1979–80 survey of Providence, R.I., residents indicated that approximately 35 percent changed their own automotive lubricating oil, disposing of this oil by a variety of methods. The most popular method of disposal reported by the respondents was putting the oil in the garbage can (41 percent), followed by dumping it in their backyard (30 percent), pouring it down sewers or storm drains (8 percent), giving it to a service station (7 percent), pouring it on the road (5 percent), and taking it to a town dump (3 percent). The practice of pouring the waste oil on the road or into sewers on a weight basis can account for 44 metric tons of petroleum hydrocarbons discharged into the city's combined storm and sanitary sewage treatment system. This amount could account for approximately 19 percent of the total hydrocarbons discharged annually by this plant. Providence residents indicated a high degree of willingness to participate in a recycling program under consideration by the State Legislature of Rhode Island.