Palmdale Reminds Residents to Keep Your Drains FOG-Free This Holiday Season

PALMDALE, CA - The City of Palmdale is reminding residents to keep FOG (fats, oils, and grease) out of household sinks and drains to prevent sewer blockages during the holiday season. With Thanksgiving around the corner, the City aims to educate households on proper disposal of cooking byproducts. FOG buildup can lead to severe sewer backups that can result in raw sewage overflow onto streets or even into homes. These costly and environmentally harmful incidents are entirely preventable with proper disposal practices.

"We want to empower our residents to prevent sewer blockages at this time of year," said Mayor Austin Bishop. Around the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, we have seen sewer blockages due to the buildup of fats, oils and grease from cooking oils, salad dressings, sandwich spreads, meat drippings/juices/fat, and other similar products used to prepare delicious holiday meals. The problem arises when they are dumped down the sink. They should never go there."

Special care should be taken when disposing of oil from deep-fried turkeys, a popular holiday cooking method that generates large amounts of oil waste. Used cooking oil should never go down the sink; the best way to dispose of it is to take it to the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center (AVECC) on the first and third Saturday of every month.

To help residents dispose of FOG correctly, the City recommends the following practices:

• Never pour fats, oils or grease down the sink, garbage disposal or into toilets.
• Pour fats, oils and grease in sturdy containers like glass jars or coffee cans to cool. Once the container is full, close the lid securely and place it in the trash.
• Before washing pots, pans and dishes, scrape food particles and dry wipe them with paper towels and dispose of the towels in the trash.
• Use sink strainers to catch bits of food and empty the strainer into the trash.
• To recycle large amounts of leftover oil from deep-frying a turkey, call AVECC at 1-888-CLEAN LA (1-888-449-7587).
• Businesses or households with larger volumes of FOG can call 661/267-5272 for recycling options.

"Every household plays a crucial role in preventing sewer blockages," said Mayor Pro Tem Richard J. Loa. "By following these simple steps, residents can protect their homes, save money on costly repairs and help preserve our environment."

For more information about Palmdale's FOG prevention program, please visit www.CityofPalmdaleCA.gov/SewerMaintenance/ or call 661-267-5300.