Scrap yard offers free fuel

Anyone else scrap yard offer free gasoline?

The scrap yard I frequent occasionally offers free fuel, it's fuel recovered from the tanks of vehicles scrapped, I just found that out. It's great but my truck ran kinda weird with a half tank of it, I didn't attribute it to that because I didn't know at the time - I really need to do more research and ask more questions... but I don't think I will be taking advantage of that again. I am not a snob and "free fuel" is pretty great but I don't want to mess up my old truck, besides I count the cost of fuel when I do scrap, but it was kinda nice the one time I actually got free fuel.

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Originally Posted by SKWrapper

Anyone else scrap yard offer free gasoline?

The scrap yard I frequent occasionally offers free fuel, it's fuel recovered from the tanks of vehicles scrapped, I just found that out. It's great but my truck ran kinda weird with a half tank of it, I didn't attribute it to that because I didn't know at the time - I really need to do more research and ask more questions... but I don't think I will be taking advantage of that again. I am not a snob and "free fuel" is pretty great but I don't want to mess up my old truck, besides I count the cost of fuel when I do scrap, but it was kinda nice the one time I actually got free fuel.

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Bad fuel has ruined more carburetors and injector systems than anything I can think of. The smaller the engine, the more damage. If you have ants or burn scrap timber, it would be a good deal. I am actually surprised a scrap yard in a metropolitan area will take vehicles with the fuel tank attached, much less without a hole in it. The oldest scrapper trick is to add water to any tanks for the additional weight. Belly trucks would fill the tank with water and leave a lake after unloading the steel. Therefore most yards require holes in all tanks.

I am 100% sure that counts as illegal disposal of haz waste under RCRA regs. You should not be using that fuel. They are dodging the cost of proper handling of waste product by externalizing it into your vehicle and then leaving you to deal with a gunked-up machine. it would be one thing if they recovered it, processed it for contaminants, and then sold it or gave it away but this is just them saving a few bucks by having you burn their garbage for them inside your car. Plus, if they get called out by the EPA or the local environmental authority, litigation on RCRA waste trickles up AND down the chain so it's likely everyone who took it and used it will be implicated in any rulings, if and when the yard gets caught. It's a **** move and the yard should know better. Ask them if they have any free toilet paper in the bottom of their Port-o-Johns, too, while they are at it. Seems to be their idea of a good time.

Also, I don't know about how your state taxes on/off-road petrol product but this seems like a bush-league tax fraud situation, too, even if they are unawares.

Stay away from people who do dumb crap like this because they are going to make trouble for you and everyone with whom they come into contact.

Yeah there's no way I would use that gas. It's a mixture of good, bad, and probably diesel and who knows what else.

Plus like someone else said it's illegal disposal of hazardous waste and could possibly catch up with anyone who has taken it.

Almost a really cool thing though, lol.

Not surprised to hear that it's illegal to give away used fuel etc... No loophole?

That yard is pretty lax on allowing freezers, fridges and water heaters, most of the time they don't even ask about freon or check to see if holes are in the bottom of the water heater. If they do, they have never asked me or checked mine and I have never seen them do that to anyone else either.

That scrapyard used to be a food bank. It's actually a pretty nice place.

maybe speak to them and ask if they they can separate the petrol form diesel- if they are actually mixing them.

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Originally Posted by SKWrapper

Not surprised to hear that it's illegal to give away used fuel etc... No loophole?

That yard is pretty lax on allowing freezers, fridges and water heaters, most of the time they don't even ask about freon or check to see if holes are in the bottom of the water heater. If they do, they have never asked me or checked mine and I have never seen them do that to anyone else either.

That scrapyard used to be a food bank. It's actually a pretty nice place.

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Not sure about the loophole. It wouldn't seem to be illegal if they're keeping 100% of it contained and not charging a fee for it, but the EPA has a plethora of guidelines on the matter, and if I'm not mistaken Colorado has some pretty strict environmental regulations.

Knowing the FED it's bound to be breaking a rule somewhere lol. I would stay away from it based on the shape and age of the vehicles the tanks are being removed from. You get one tank of 40 year old gas and your motor is gone lol.

the yard I work at, I was the car guy for a bit, now I'm elsewhere. We get free gas from the "waste" gas. I haven't had a problem with it yet. Its cheaper than buying gas and I mean the Man already got their share when the original car owners bought it. Its already there and needs to be disposed of and I need to go to work everyday. so its like killing two birds with one stone. as for the bad gas and diesel we have a ball valve on our lines. If we see its good it goes through two filters and a centrifuge. If its bad it goes elsewhere. If its diesel It usually goes in the waste oil tank and burned in the heater during the winter. If you have a lazy guy running cars for a day who knows what ends up where. We all get gas that way and only had one problem with anyones vehicle. although that might have been less of an accident than was originally let on. If you think you might be getting bad gas let pump it into a drained and clear plastic water bottle, let it sit for a minute and see what color it is. If its real dark or milky looking its bad. if you see water at the bottom its bad. Its illegal to have gas in drinking water bottles so get rid of it (safely) before you move your truck.

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Originally Posted by CJBlackburn

Not sure about the loophole. It wouldn't seem to be illegal if they're keeping 100% of it contained and not charging a fee for it, but the EPA has a plethora of guidelines on the matter, and if I'm not mistaken Colorado has some pretty strict environmental regulations.

Knowing the FED it's bound to be breaking a rule somewhere lol. I would stay away from it based on the shape and age of the vehicles the tanks are being removed from. You get one tank of 40 year old gas and your motor is gone lol.

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I am not going to use it again. If I had known where it came from the first/only time, I wouldn't have put any in my truck.

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Originally Posted by Breakage

I am 100% sure that counts as illegal disposal of haz waste under RCRA regs.

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Do you have any links to back that up?
ALL the yards here do it
They filter it thru a half dozen filters >> That said >> I do not use it!
When gas was really high years ago >> I WOULD drain the gas from the cars I got that had more then a half tank and were running the prior week
NOT Interested in the gas from the cars that had been sitting for years and smelled like paint thinner

Doing some quick research (GOOGLE) Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
specifically says to >> Fluids like diesel fuel, gasoline and windshield washer fluid should be reused or recycled.

Taken from >> C:\Users\Dell T5400\AppData\Local\Temp\2520-FS-DEP2258-1.pdf

I would think giving the gas away is reusing and recycling

If it's being properly filtered and contained I don't see why it would be illegal. I just had a mental image of some guys pouring all the tanks into a large container and giving it away.

It's not a common thing in my area so I can't speak on the legality of it. I still wouldn't use it.

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Originally Posted by JohnC4X4

Doing some quick research (GOOGLE) Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
specifically says to >> Fluids like diesel fuel, gasoline and windshield washer fluid should be reused or recycled.

Taken from >> C:\Users\Dell T5400\AppData\Local\Temp\2520-FS-DEP2258-1.pdf

I would think giving the gas away is reusing and recycling

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I will see if I can find the official CFR for this situation but that's a little more digging than I can do, this afternoon. I did just do a RCRA training, last month, and this topic came up in discussion.

The operative word in the second line is "should." Not "will," not "must," not even "can." And the other technicality is that, unless you license and certify as a processor of a specific, regulated waste like gasoline, you aren't a "recycler." Filtering it is one thing; you can argue you are making a "product", which may or may not be regulated, as long as it meets spec for what the governing body defines as a fuel product of that type. But you can't eat a hamburger, spit it up in a bag, drain off the drool, and sell it again as a hamburger, generally speaking (I apologize for the crass simile but I was stumbling over what a reasonable comparison would be).

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Originally Posted by Breakage

I will see if I can find the official CFR for this situation but that's a little more digging than I can do, this afternoon. I did just do a RCRA training, last month, and this topic came up in discussion.

The operative word in the second line is "should." Not "will," not "must," not even "can." And the other technicality is that, unless you license and certify as a processor of a specific, regulated waste like gasoline, you aren't a "recycler." Filtering it is one thing; you can argue you are making a "product", which may or may not be regulated, as long as it meets spec for what the governing body defines as a fuel product of that type. But you can't eat a hamburger, spit it up in a bag, drain off the drool, and sell it again as a hamburger, generally speaking (I apologize for the crass simile but I was stumbling over what a reasonable comparison would be).

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https://youtu.be/vYEXzx-TINc

I always used the decent stuff I drained out in my yard vehicles. I had a couple old clunkers to haul tools and parts around in the yard. Used it in the old mower to. I wad picky and wouldn't use the old funky smelling stuff though. I never even filtered it and never had any issues.

Its not free! If old gasoline (basically turns to varnish) plugs up your gas line, gas filter or causes mayhem with your carburetor, fuel injectors, etc., then its not worth the trouble! Also, if its pumped out of vehicle gas tank and into another metal tank, you risk contaminants (rust particles, etc.) getting into it.

Need gasoline to run vehicles, equipment, etc.? Buy fresh gas and save yourself time, money and prevent a headache. Cutting corners can cost you and used gasoline is not a good deal.

As far as storing and dispensing used gasoline, the fire codes (International Fire Code, etc.) that are routinely adopted, enacted and enforced by cities, etc. usually pertain, more than Federal rules. Nearly every jurisdiction (city, county, state, etc.) has enacted fire codes on the storage of gasoline. Ensuring storage tanks are properly grounded, vented, adequate shutoff valves, etc. are the rules of fire codes. Usually, EPA rules are for spilled gasoline incidents.