A pilot program managed by King County Solid Waste Division and the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program is helping public and private vehicle fleet managers and technicians safely remove and recover mercury-containing “tilt switches” in many vehicles.
There are 12 fleets are participating in the pilot project:
• AAA of Washington
• City of Auburn
• City of Bellevue
• King County Fleet Division
• City of Seattle - Charles St. Garage
• City of Renton
• U.S. General Services Administration, EPA Region 10
• King County Metro Transit
• King County Solid Waste Division
• Port of Seattle
• City of Tukwila
• University of Washington
“We’ve had terrific cooperation from fleet managers and technicians; they are doing a great job of voluntarily reducing mercury pollution,” said King County executive Ron Sims.
Solid Waste Division program manager Alexandra Thompson would like to see other counties introduce similar programs. “This program is a significant part of the effort to reduce mercury pollution from vehicles in King County. This is a source of pollution that very few people even know about, so it shows once again how public agencies do a great job of educating and protecting the public,” she said.
Thompson said the program will collect more than 500 switches by the end of the year. The program provides collection buckets, replacement switches, how-to documents on proper removal and replacement of mercury switches, and lists of vehicles likely to have the mercury switches to fleet maintenance supervisors. Solid Waste Division staff collect the switches from participating shops and take them to a hazardous waste collection facility so the mercury can be safely managed.