Remember the Reader's Digest's of the 1970's that predicted the absolute wreckage of Northern European agriculture because of catastrophic global cooling?

I'm sure there are others here who are involved with environmental issues in a professional manner. I happen to be a P.G. and I have worked in the environmental industry for almost 20 years, mostly dealing with soil and groundwater contamination issues from petroleum and chlorinated solvents, paint thinners, etc. Waste disposal is not a real strength of mine. However, a couple of comments made in this thread have me a bit concerned, especially when referencing headaches and tingling skin, burning eyes, etc.

First, there is a big difference between "virgin" fuel, whether fuel oil, bunker oil, diesel or gasoline and etc., vs. wastes of any sort, whether petroleum (waste oil, contaminated fuels, etc.) or solvent (thinners, degreasers, etc.). There is a big difference in the regulation of these various liquids.

While I realize many of the references to burning "odd" fluids in oil fired steam locomotives are past tense - something done many years ago - I would strongly suggest that if you are now offered any quantity of "waste" from any source, it may be best to decline, especially if you do not know the source well and the price seems "too good to be true". Keep in mind also that if you accept and burn (read "dispose") the waste, you or your organization could be cited and heavily fined on several counts (depending on applicable federal and state environmental regs). On top of that, you have no idea what contaminants may (or may not) be in the waste. Heavy metals are a typical contaminant in waste motor oil. At this late date it is probably unlikely to get PCB-contaminated oil, but not impossible. Low temperature combustion of PCBs can create compounds worse than the PCBs themselves. Dioxins and furans to name a couple. This isn't enviro-whacko-babble. Some of these things can kill you. Just like some of the paints that have been discussed here.

If you have a reputable source and the materials are properly manifested and tracked, and if your "facility" is permitted to burn the waste fuel, that's an entirely different story. Just make sure you know what you are paying for.

What about burning old cross ties? These are regulated as hazardous waste because of residual creosote, which is a regulated hazardous material. They are stacked up all over the railroads because the cost of disposal is quite high. Incineration (high temperature burning) is one way to dispose of them. I believe they can also be ground up and used as fuel in certain regulated applications. However, low temperature combustion of creosote can form some pretty nasty compounds, too. Even though they are readily available, and appear to be a really cheap fuel source for a solid fuel-fired locomotive, I'm not sure doing so is acceptable under current regulations. Could you be putting your guests at any risk by burning them? What's in the smoke that wafts back over the train? Granted, the exposure may be small (low dose) and for a short time, but do you know what the exposure limits are for the unknown stuff that is exhausted from the stack? Is that a risk you want to take for yourself, the operating crews (whose exposure will be much greater), or the public?

Again. I stress this is not my strongest area. But, I feel I have to recommend all possible caution in burning anything other than that for which a boiler was designed. Just a thought to ponder.

Gentlemen,

This topic has turned into a debate on environmental policy, which is not within the discussion parameters of this forum. Therefore the topic is now locked.