[C320-list] Bilge Diesel

[Gene Helfman]

Not sure if this answers your question, but our approach to small spills is
to use cheap disposable diapers deposited in a construction-grade (heavy
mil) garbage bag rather than paper towels.  We keep a package of Pampers on
board for just such occasions.  Granted, things still wind up in a
landfill, but we only get hazardous waste removal once a year where we live.

On Tue, May 5, 2015 at 1:29 PM, Amiraults Family <amiraults at sympatico.ca>
wrote:

> All:
>
>
>
> HOLY CRAP it is hard for a 250 pound old fart to enter and shift into
> useful
> positions in the stern lockers. But I digress.
>
>
>
> I emptied the stern lockers today, and in the process discovered my
> emergency tiller. I was also able to remove the outboard half of the shelf,
> and loosen the inboard half to view and access the fuel tank. I discovered
> that there is evidence of fuel on the top of the tank. There is a disc with
> wires connected on the top of the tank port side forward. This appears to
> have a rubber gasket and is secured to the tank by a half-dozen or so
> screws. Diesel seems to have come from here and flowed forward to dribble
> down the front face of the tank.
>
>
>
> The plan is to clean the area, tighten the screws, and apply a sealer.
> Simple Green makes a purple degreaser/cleaner which the local service
> provider swears by and so I will use this for the cleaning. The cleaning
> plan is to remove with paper towels what can be before using a light
> pressure sprayer to apply the product where diesel can be seen and using
> the
> attached wand to spray into areas which cannot be accessed. Before this
> dries I will pour water on the tank at the point of the leak to allow it to
> flow towards the bilge - hopefully following the same path as the fuel did.
> As the bilge fills, I will pump this out of the bilge and into a bucket
> through a hose attached where the bilge water exits the boat. When this is
> finished the last thing to do will be to scrub the bilge itself.
>
>
>
> Question - what is a sound way to dispose of the mixture of water, Simple
> Green, and a couple of cups of diesel?
>
>
>
> Thanks again for the strategies for investigating the problem, making a
> repair, and restoring the boat afterwards.
>
>
>
> Brian Amirault
>
> 797 Waltzing Bear, too
>
>
>
> ---
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>



-- 
Gene Helfman, Professor Emeritus
Odum School of Ecology, University of Georgia
PERMANENT address:
    498 Shoreland Dr., Lopez Is., WA 98261
    (360) 468-2136
    genehelfman at gmail.com

"You noticed nobody gives a damn about beached minnows."