State environmental agency to honor Dallas “Cease the Grease” program

City of Dallas sent this bulletin at 03/09/2012 02:17 PM CST

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:

                                                                                    Helen Cantril Dulac – Dallas Water Utilities(214) 671-0411

 

 State environmental agency to honor Dallas “Cease the Grease” program

Dallas program promotes proper disposal of cooking grease and oil

 (Dallas-March 8, 2012)       The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) has notified Dallas officials the city’s “Cease the Grease” program has won the 2012 TCEQ Environmental Excellence award for pollution prevention. The award will be presented during a ceremony in Austin on May 2, 2012.

Presented annually, the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards spotlight achievements in environmental preservation and protection. The awards recognize innovation and achievements in nine areas including pollution prevention and water conservation.

The “Cease the Grease” program is part of Dallas Water Utilities’ ongoing campaign to convince residents to properly dispose of used cooking oil or grease instead of pouring that waste down the drain. Improperly disposed cooking oil and grease can clog sewer pipes both inside your home and under city streets, resulting in potentially expensive repairs. The waste can also end up in area creeks, streams and rivers.

“We are proud the state has recognized this program and the hard work of our employees and partners involved in grease abatement every day,” said Jody Puckett, Director of Dallas Water Utilities. “We have not only reduced the number of costly repairs due to clogged sewer lines, we have also recycled thousands of gallons of used cooking oil into bio-fuel. This would not have been possible without the help from our community partners including Whole Food Markets, Dallas County Community Colleges, the Greiner Middle School in Dallas and others,” Puckett added.

Waste cooking oil collected by DWU is given to Dallas County Schools, which converts the used oil to bio-diesel that is used to help fuel approximately 1,000 school buses. The partnership has helped Dallas County Schools save thousands of dollars in fuel costs by blending bio-diesel with regular diesel for school buses.

For more information about the Dallas “Cease the Grease” campaign and the location of the nearest recycling drop-off station, go to www.ceasethegrease.org.