Slick Deal Partners Plymouth and East Side Oil To Save Money

It is often said that necessity is the mother of invention.

When the city of Plymouth was looking for ways to curb heating costs and be more environmentally friendly, it partnered with a Minnesota business to establish a waste oil burner.

"It's a chance to do something right for the community, and save money as well", said Patti Carlson, the Chief Operations Officer of St. Cloud-based East Side Oil.

The company began the program of installing equipment to process waste oil in cities across Minnesota with an initial investment of more than $ 1million about 13 years ago, Carlson said.

To date, the company has installed almost 50 sites, each going in free of charge to the cities hosting them. The sites generally cost from $25,000 to $30,000 to install, insure and get up and running, Carlson said. The city splits the oil, which is collected with East Side.

People can bring used hydraulic, lawn mower and automobile oil, used antifreeze and used oil filters to the Maintenance Facility drop off site in Plymouth 24-hours a day.

Along with Plymouth, the city of Brooklyn Park also has a site and was the first site in Hennepin County, but it may not be the last. East Side has expressed plans to open more sites in metro areas in the future.

"If people have to travel more than 15 miles, they won't recycle," Carlson said. "For many years people were told that just pouring it out in their yards was a good way to control weeds, which has been proven to be untrue, and harmful to the environment. Oil can damage groundwater and be harmful to the ecosystem."

This new recycling option will have a positive effect on the environment, said Tom Vetsch, Fleet and Facilities Manager for Plymouth.

"It provides an easy means for proper disposal of these fluids minimizing contamination to the environment if not disposed of properly," he said. "Energy has already used in the manufacturing of the oil. We now have a secondary use for this oil with no added energy costs. The waste oil is ready to be used again as it is."

Vetsch said it is unknown at this early date exactly how much money it will save the city, but the city has been buying less natural gas since the site went up.

"The goal is to stay warm while reducing heating cost and to provide the residents a convenience means to recycle motor and other oils," he said.

East Side Oil will sponsor a grand opening picnic 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 17, at the Plymouth Maintenance Facility.