In the last few years, thousands of gallons of used motor oil have been dumped into storm drains by Contra Costa County residents. By taking used motor oil, antifreeze, filters, and other automobile fluids, in a sealed container, to a gas station or oil changing site with a recycling program, you will be helping our ocean, creeks, and the Bay.
In the event of an accidental spill, sprinkle the area with sawdust or kitty litter to absorb all liquids, sweep it into a plastic garbage bag, and take it to a household hazardous waste facility.
DID YOU KNOW?
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The Mr. Funnelhead Program shares information on automotive pollution prevention and used motor oil and oil filter recycling. See below for recycling options:
Residents can safely discard a wide variety of household hazardous wastes to their local Household Hazardous Waste Facility at no charge. Learn more at Household Hazardous Waste | CCCWP.
Search this online directory by item and zip code to see where you can take various items for reuse, repair, recycling, or safe disposal: RE:Source | resource.stopwaste.org. Auto-care related items in this directory include the following: motor oil, oil filters, auto glass, auto parts and scraps, auto upholstery, auto batteries, antifreeze, and paint.
When you wash your car on your driveway or street, the wash water flows into storm drains and goes directly to local creeks without any treatment. Wash water contains pollutants that can harm creek habitats, such as grease, oil, metals, particle buildup, and chemicals from hose water and cleaning products. Even if you use biodegradable soaps, the oxygen these products require to break down depletes our creek of the dissolved oxygen that fish and other organisms need to survive. In addition, hose water contains chloramine, which is a disinfectant that is toxic to fish and can alter the pH of the creeks and waterways on the other side of your storm drain.
What can you do? Instead of washing your car at home, take your car to a commercial car wash where the wastewater will be treated. There are also commercial, self-service car wash stations that connect to drains where the washwater will be treated.
Planning on hosting a car wash fundraiser? Check out our webpage: Best Management Practices (BMPs). Includes a brochure on proper car wash fundraising in Contra Costa County, as well as brochures on other helpful topics for stormwater pollution prevention.
Remember: Only rainwater is allowed to flow freely into a storm drain. To learn more about how your streets connect to local creeks, check out our webpage: What is Stormwater? | CCCWP
For tips on how to prevent pollution with your everyday actions and business practices, check out our webpage: Best Management Practices (BMPs). Includes brochures on several topics, including car washes, proper wash water disposal, environementally-friendly fire prevention and post-fire cleanup, mobile business tips, and auto body shop best practices.
| Report Spills/Illegal Dumping
How to Prevent Pollution 
