Spring has sprung and with it new news in the world of grease traps. The weather might be warming up, but that doesn’t always bode well for the grease traps of restaurants. Below you’ll find three tales that “rose to the top” of our news feeds, from near tragedy avoiding by a father’s quick thinking to a smelly situation that caused a local resident to sue.
Tulsa: Grease Trap Servicing Company with a Screw Loose
March 23rd: A five-year-old girl had a shock when she fell into an unsecured grease trap on her way into a Tulsa Hills restaurant. Thankfully her father, who was in front of her at the time, had acted quickly to save her, flipping back the lid and pulling his daughter to safety (she was unhurt, if shaken). What’s really surprising is that this wasn’t the fault of a restaurant that didn’t understand grease traps (it was a Panera Bread), but instead their grease service company: a multi-state company whose local service members forgot to secure the lid after servicing. Check out our full blog that covers this and other related incidents: The Importance of Security for Below Ground Grease Traps.
Ocean Beach: A Dangerously Smelly Grease Trap Situation
April 10th: Two California restaurants are seeing lawsuits from a man who said the noxious fumes from their grease traps caused his heart attack. Wonderland Ocean Pub and OB Surf Lodge are getting sued over fumes caused by overfilled grease traps that were finally cleaned after the city issued the restaurants a warning. The lawsuit alleges that he suffered fume-induced cardiac arrest from the grease traps when they were finally opened and cleaned, showing the importance of regular cleaning and taking the proper safety precautions when you do.
Pflugerville: Regulating Food Truck Parks, Including Grey Water
May 25th: In this Texas city of 60,000, they are seeing an increased demand for food trucks. With that in mind, the Pflugerville City Council (the “P” is silent) is mulling over the creation of a food truck park. While this seems like an easy setup – the city has several open lots that would be ideal – experts caution the need for infrastructure to be put in place, such as trash cans, power hookups, and maybe most importantly water and grey water hookups. Just like any restaurant, these portable ones generate grease that is dangerous to the sewer system. Check out our blog, Do I Need a Grease Trap for My Food Truck? for more details on why they are important.
As a little bonus news, the Sadie Grace Andrews Act we talked about in our winter news was signed into law, helping tragedies like hers from happening again. Grease traps keep popping up in the news. Make sure your restaurant doesn’t. Food Grease Trappers are experts in the field of grease trap maintenance and waste vegetable oil (WVO) collections for the foodservice industry, and we have been doing so for over 20 years. If you need assistance with your grease trap in New England, make sure to contact us.
