[DJC]
[Environmental Outlook]
August 20, 1998

Local sheriff helps firm clean up its act

By JEFFREY D. PETTEY and CATHERINE A. WILLIAMS
Filtration/Treatment Systems

This is an unusual success story which seems to be repeated throughout industry and government. The story shows how the environment and industry can be linked in multiple ways. Yes, we are all connected.

It starts out with a truck hauling a scrap-metal container down the highway in the Portland Metro area. A local sheriff noticed that the container was dripping some sort of industrial fluid. He stopped the truck and found the scrap metal was covered with oil.

Even though the scrap metal was on its way to be recycled into bulldozer blades, the oil is considered to be a contaminant on the roadway. The sheriff was concerned about cars losing their traction, but now there is greater concern about stormwater pollution.

The scrap metal came from an Oregon manufacturer which makes chains for chain saws. The individual pieces are stamped out of carbide steel œ a very tough material. The operation requires a punch to pierce through a sheet of metal that is bathed in a stamping oil. This oil greatly extends the life of both the stamp and the receiving die œ both of which are extremely expensive.

The oil is designed to coat the metals to provide maximum lubrication during the stamping operation. The oil film also prevents oxidation by sealing surfaces from the air. Small pieces of scrap waste are sent into hoppers prior to dumping the contents into a transportable container. The oil is drained out of the hoppers, but road vibration during transport coalesces more oil down and out through the bottom of the container.

The collected oil is considered to be non-reusable due to small fines and particles that could cause increased wear of the stamp and dies. The collected oil was sent out as waste oil.

In a different part of town, the steel foundry where the bulldozer blades were being made was experiencing air emission problems on a periodic, random basis. The area around the foundry has become increasingly attractive to residential and retail developers which has heightened public concern about air quality. The foundry owners began looking for ways to clean up air emissions œ which pointed to more capital equipment with substantial operation costs.

Our firm worked with the chain manufacturer to design an integrated, holistic process that would:

  • Automatically clean the steel scrap.

  • Place the scrap directly into the transportable containers.

  • Fully recover the collected oil into a reusable form for its stamping operation.

  • Monitor all tanks and hoppers for overflow conditions and proper response.

After we installed this process, virtually 98 percent of the stamping oil was recovered and reused. The steel scrap was dry to the touch and required less operator handling. The steel foundry found that its air emissions were back into compliance, all thanks to a sheriff who wanted to keep his roads clean.

The benefits were numerous and spread over two different facilities and a neighborhood.

There are many examples of how pollution prevention has increased the bottom line for industrial and governmental facilities. Countless tons of hazardous waste have been saved from disposal with the main benefits going back to the generators. Their cost to purchase, inventory, handle, process, treat and dispose of waste has been reduced significantly, or better yet, completely eliminated.


Jeffrey Pettey is a mechanical engineer with Filtration/Treat-ment Systems, a Seattle firm involved in water and wastewater process design and equipment supply.

Copyright © 1998 Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce.