News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
New state grant money will help McMinnville’ Public Works Department store and reuse oil.
Stormwater Manager Lyndon Bussell (Buh-sill) said they will be getting a large heater for their facility that will run on used oil from the public. Bussell said the system will be convenient for citizens while saving his department money on energy.
“We’ll have an exterior storage tank for people to be able to come to one of our bays, deposit the oil, and go on with their lives,” Bussell said. “So we see it as really just creating a service for our citizens and being able to better serve the needs that we have.”
Bussell said they will have a pump to move oil from the 385-gallon collection tank to the 550-gallon indoor tank that is connected to the heater. Bussell said they are currently taking bids for the system and plan to have it working by early December.
The city received a $30,000 grant to allow the city’s public works department to complete the project.
“From what we’ve been told and what we know of there’s a lead time in getting everything shipped to us that’s about four to six weeks,” Bussell said. “So that’s kind of what we’re expecting in terms of having everything implemented.”
Bussell said the system should seamlessly integrate into the department’s current operations because the pump system ensures the collection tank always has room for more oil.
“We actually have a similar program with our local city garage,” Bussell said. “But this gives us an opportunity to expand that program because we typically do get an excess of used oil that gets deposited to our garage.”
Bussell said this new system allows them to better support the needs of their citizens because they are unable to take oil when too much is deposited at the garage.
