Archives of Past Eastside Business Monthly Issues
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Eastside Auto Repair Shops Help AAA Remove Hazardous Mercury from Cars During AAA Car Care MonthOctober is AAA Car Care Month, a time when AAA encourages motorists to take time to assess the health of their vehicle and make needed adjustments before winter arrives. New this year, and open to the public, AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities will remove mercury containing switches from vehicles for free by appointment. In October, Puget Sound motorists can make an appointment at any AAA Approved Auto Repair Facility to have hazardous mercury containing tilt switches in the hood and trunk lighting systems of their vehicle removed and replaced with a non-polluting ball-bearing switch, for free. The non-polluting ball-bearing switches for this program were donated by King County Solid Waste as part of the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County . This service is free by appointment and available to the public. Mercury switches are found in many American-made cars manufactured before 2001 and some foreign cars manufactured before 1992 – no Japanese-made vehicles contain mercury switches. Motorists can visit AAA's website www.aaa.com , click on ‘News & Safety' and look at the Mercury Switch Out information for a list of vehicles containing mercury switches. This section of AAA's website also contains a complete list of AAA's Approved Auto Repair facilities where motorists can make an appointment for the service. AAA estimates that 2.2 million vehicles in Washington have mercury containing switches in their convenience lighting systems. AAA provided a similar service April 18 – 22 in celebration of Earth Day and removed 236 mercury containing switches. AAA is hoping that a month-long event will bring more awareness to the issue and give more people the opportunity to make an appointment to bring their cars into a AAA approved shop. “Most motorists don't know that their vehicle may contain enough mercury to contaminate a 20-acre lake in just two tiny switches that activate the convenience light under the hood and in the trunk of their vehicle,” say John Milbrath, vice president of Automotive Services for AAA Washington/Inland. “The good news is that most of these switches can easily be replaced in just a few minutes with an equally effective non-polluting ball-bearing switch.” Mercury switches are not dangerous when they are used in a properly maintained vehicle, but if the vehicle is in a crash, is old enough to have the metal casing around the mercury corrode, or the vehicle is sent to a wrecking yard to be crushed and incinerated, there is a good chance the mercury will leak and contaminate groundwater, lakes, streams and eventually the fish that many anglers eat. According to medical experts, mercury is a neurotoxin that causes serious brain and nervous system damage in humans. Children are especially sensitive to mercury. Also during AAA Car Care Month, all AAA Approved Auto Repair facilities will provide AAA members a free 35-point maintenance inspection by appointment. Eastside AAA Approved Auto Repair Facilities
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