Dallas wants city residents to cut the fat -- out of their drains.
The fats, oils and grease that are poured down sinks every day can cause sanitary sewer overflows, water-main breaks and property damage, according to Helen Dulac, a coordinator for Dallas Water Utilities' grease abatement program.
And cleaning the gunk from the city's wastewater treatment plant can cost millions of dollars.
"During the holidays -- when people do a lot of cooking, baking and producing lots of fats, oils and grease -- when they wash their dishes, it all goes down the sink and into our sewer system," Dulac said. "So we are encouraging residents to collect that grease so it can be recycled."
The city's grease abatement program, Cease the Grease, encourages people to pour their used cooking oil and bacon grease into containers instead into the sink.
There are several kiosks in Dallas where residents can drop off containers of used cooking oil. The containers are collected and are turned into biodiesel fuel.
"The next step from that is to use the biodiesel for the city of Dallas to help its residents and maybe reduce taxes in the future," Dulac said.
Residents can leave their used cooking oil at the following locations:
- Green Spot Market and Fuels, 702 N. Buckner Blvd.
- Fair Oaks Transfer Station, 7677 Fair Oaks Ave.
- Bachman Transfer Station, 8500 Harry Hines Blvd.
- Oak Cliff Transfer Station, 4610 Westmoreland Rd.
- McCommas Bluff Landfill, 5100 Youngblood Rd.
- Dallas County Home Chemical Collection Center, 11234 Plano Rd.
For more information, visit the city of Dallas Web site at: http://dallascityhall.com/dwu/Pretreatment/grease_abatement.html
