Costs Savings the Icing on the Cake for EcoStar Honoree

08/16/01BILLINGS--Ralph Hanser saved a cool $100,000 last year, according to an estimate conducted for Montana State University Extension's Pollution Prevention Program. New pressure washers that recycle soap and use bacteria to break down hydrocarbons in wash water have cut in half the expensive detergents used in his wholesale transmission rebuilding business.

But that's not the main reason Hanser's Automotive and Salvage Co. in Billings keeps adding state-of-the-art equipment and implementing cleaner, safer processes.

"Financial considerations are secondary," says Hanser, "It's more that we just don't want to pollute."

A Montana native who started out life on a ranch near Broadview, Hanser tends to look at the big picture. "It's part of the whole package. You do start saving. Detergents are horribly expensive."

This is the second year that Hanser's has been chosen to receive an EcoStar award from MSU Extension. The 20 small businesses to be honored have been invited to a reception with Governor Martz at the State Capitol, the first time the Extension-sponsored pollution prevention incentive program has received such high-level attention.

Hanser first learned of MSU Extension's Pollution Prevention program through a mailing. Now, Jon Hudson, Extension Pollution Prevention specialist, has visited Hanser's plant twice and given recommendations.

"We're always open to new ideas. All this stuff is changing so rapidly," says Hanser.

As a wrecker and salvage business that must handle the gamut of hazardous automotive fluids, Hanser looks to a variety of agencies like MSU Extension, Workman's Comp and the federal Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response program to train and protect his employees. He says he also gets information from his participation in the Automotive Dismantlers Association.

"It seems like the more you know, the more that's required of you…" explains Hanser "There may have been one time in my life when I wouldn't have felt like slowing down in a school zone, but now I want to do it. That's what happens here. The more you understand what we're doing to the aquifer, the more you say: I don't want to be a part of that."

"Even those antifreeze puddles that you see in parking lots are going straight into our water," says Hanser, who takes care to ensure that no unsafe water leaves his premises untreated.

"By choice, we have a cement drain to keep rainwater from leaving our property and we treat it and test it for compliance before it is allowed to go into storm water drains. There's no sense compounding the problem if we can do our part."

Peggy Akerstrom, safety coordinator for Hanser's, says the secret to implementing health and environmental safety practices is to keep everybody involved. By including one or two people from each department, they encourage each other and watch over each other's safety. "When they see the management act on their ideas and suggestions, it's very encouraging to them."

Sidebar: Nothing left but the beep!
 Hanser's three-tiered business does wrecker and recovery work, petroleum-based spill cleanup, auto salvage, and wholesale transmission rebuilding.

•  Of the 1,000 or so cars and trucks they dismantle each year, they drain and recycle the antifreeze and Freon, which they clean and resell. They also drain the oil, which is regularly picked up by a recycler.
•  After the car is drained so it won't drip any fluid onto the 5-acre lot, they remove any parts to be resold into inventory.
•  As parts are washed, any dirt that comes off them is captured, dried and if it meets the test requirements, sent to a landfill for disposal.
• What is left of the car then goes to a "pick-apart" yard, where people can hunt and peck to find parts they need at reduced prices.
•  When there is nothing left worth taking, the car is crushed and sent to Utah, where it is shredded, separated into ferrous and non-ferrous metals and then recycled.

Send questions or comments toMarla Goodman, MSU Communications Services, Bozeman, MT 59717, E-mail mgoodman@montana.edu