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City Program Wins Environmental Award |
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Carlos Rubinstein, TCEQ Commissioner,
Bryan W. Shaw, Ph.D., TCEQ Chairman
Helen Dulac, Cease the Grease
Governor Rick Perry
Richard Statser, Cease the Grease
Zak Covar, TCEQ Executive Director
Toby Baker, TCEQ Commissioner
Photo courtesy of City of Dallas
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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.
Presented annually, the Texas Environmental Excellence Awards spotlight achievements in environmental preservation and protection. The awards recognized 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.
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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 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,” Puckett added.
Waste cooking oil collect by DWU is given to Dallas County Schools, which converts the 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, go to www.ceasethegrease.org.
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City Program Wins Environmental Award
