This oil-disposal tip was in Popular Science magazine in 1963

submitted by Musky from midi.moe

all 19 comments
sorted by:
top
newinsightfulfun

[–]Megatron95 7 insightful - 5 fun7 insightful - 4 fun8 insightful - 5 fun -  (1 child)

Always follow the Science, wherever it may lead you.

[–]Cosmo3k 3 insightful - 2 fun3 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

"The science is settled"

[–]Zapped 4 insightful - 3 fun4 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 3 fun -  (1 child)

Well, that's where it came from.

[–]Musky[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

[–]Brewdabier 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

I welded two 55 gallon drums dug a hole and put them in, metal grate on top and used it for 25 + years.

[–]Musky[S] 1 insightful - 2 fun1 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 2 fun -  (4 children)

I was talking to a petroleum engineer about this and they said when they have spills, they're mandated to drill test wells to check the contamination, and in 5 years the levels are undetectable.

It goes back to whence it came apparently.

[–]Brewdabier 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If you could go to any military base in the US and head over to the motor pool you would see how they use chemicals all day long the goes straight into the ground like paint stripping and then there's the fuel island where gas and diesel is dumped. I was flying over Catalina island a couple years ago and say a navy ship dumping 55 gallon barrels in the water so government is not to concerned.

[–]Zapped 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Ha. I worked a site where fuel had been leaking into the ground for years. You could put a scoop of dirt in a cup and it would hold a flame if ignited. They had to pay for a semi-permanent environmental testing station kept on site. It may have also been able to pull some of the contamination out of the ground. It was there for at least 10 years.

[–]SueBoyle 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

One day people will come to understand that we have completely screwed up our environment.

The bees are dying. We have water shortages. Our air is polluted. Our fish have microplastics in their flesh.

About 90% of the world's population must be exterminated or we will all suffer and that is exactly what our governments are doing right now the vaccine was phase 1 of the new Holocaust.

[–]Zapped 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Without people, the environment would correct itself in just a few years, with maybe nuclear sites as the exception. Even suppressing wildfires changes the landscapes and ecosystems.

[–]iamonlyoneman 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Twenty years later, my dad was driving me around town and we saw a guy pouring his used oil onto the ground. He told me, "Never do that."

[–]GraviAss We Can 2 insightful - 2 fun2 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Some people mix used engine oil with diesel, about 50/50 or less oil and more diesel.

On older cars that worked pretty well, not sure about newer cars, they'd probably explode if you even thought of such a thing.

[–]twolanterns 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

used crankcase oil can be used as fuel by museum oil-fired steam locomotives

[–]Musky[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Interesting. I've heard some older diesel engines can run on damned near anything like that.

[–]twolanterns 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

way back there were things called "Hit and Miss engines" that were single cylinder internal combustion with a flywheel that were used (in rural areas) to do things like operate small machinery and pumping water and generate electricity. They could operate on a very wide range of substances (most thinner fuels as they had rather simple carburetion )

[–]ID10T 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I always thought it would be cool to have an electric car with a turbine generator. Turbines can run on pretty much anything flammable. Not super efficient, but in a post apocalyptic world you could scavenge anything for fuel.

[–]TaseAFeminist4Jesus 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's better than dumping it down a storm drain.

[–]Cosmo3k 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If you do it close to your house foundation, it helps keeping the termites out... ;)

[–]HiddenFox 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

At the end of my road was an gas station.

They estimate that the underground tanks were leaking gasoline for about 25 years. Rather then getting the company to clean it up they just moved the end of the road on top of the old site. Payed over it and all has been forgotten!