Steve,

In reply, Mountain View has a similar program, but they keep on giving us those 
1 gallon milk jugs with a horrendously tiny mouth that requires a funnel, which 
in turn creates more spillage, which has become a veritable PITA.  My solution 
is to keep two 5 gallon paint buckets with the (snap) sealing lids, and make 
periodic trips to the Mtn View collection facility (which BTW is only open 9-5, 
M-F) to dump.  Even there, they are very suspicious about my dumping as they 
are very concerned about the cross-contamination issues....  I suspect that the 
ABAG is going to get even tougher regarding these issues and my concern is that 
they may eventually make it illegal in the Bay Area to even change your own oil 
(5-10 years downstream) which, IMHO, will really impact us as hobbyists.  

As it stands now, I have been informed by the MVFD that, TECHNICALLY, it is 
illegal to wash your car off and allow the runoff to go into the storm drains 
(which dump directly into the Bay without treatment) as the detergent is 
considered to be a serious pollutant.  Obviously, they (the MVFD) recognize 
that if this were to be strictly enforced, they would really have a serious 
public relations issue on their hands (shades of Big Brother)....  

I am as concerned about our environment as the next person, since I want to 
continue living here with out getting polluted out, but there is a need for 
some sensiblility in legislation AND there is a need for us to police ourselves 
rather than having the gvernment do it for us, so....Comments anyone?

       Jon

==============================================================================
Well, I know this is regional but may apply to other areas with municipal
or county recycling.  The recycling program in San Jose permits us to
leave oil in containers they provide for weekly curb-side pick-up.  I
don't know about other fluids.  Other recycle centers around the area may
accept brake fluid, coolant, etc. as well as oil.  I don't have specific
info on the various recycling centers around here, but it's an option 
worth looking into. 

Steve
  

> From: Jon Peters/UB Networks <Jon_Peters@ub.com>

> Hi All,
> 
> Out here in CA (Sillycone Valley), Jiffy Lube will no longer accept used 
motor 
> oil from drop offs (i.e. people who are just recycling their own waste oil).  
> Brake fluid and anitfreeze contamination has become such an issue that very 
few 
> establishments accept waste oil from a hobbyist any more in our area.  
> Fortunately, there are a few establishments left in the area, who will accept 
> waste oil in bulk, but they make me feel like I'm some sort of criminal on 
> parole every time I make a dump (10 gallons at a time....  we have 7 VW's)!  
It 
> is a sad commentary on just how an irresponsible minority of car owners have 
> impacted the rest of us!  Nur mein zwei Pfennig...
> 
>        Jon
>