affiliated vehicle repair facilities
throughout North and South Carolina will provide a free battery check and pay motorists $1 for each potentially poisonous dead or unused vehicle battery they bring into the facility April 19-24.
As part of its celebration of Earth Day on April 22, there will be no fee charged by any of the 35 North Carolina or the 20 SouthCarolina AAA-related facilities when they accept the battery. A fee up to $5 is usually charged by repair facilities accepting a dead battery, which is often refunded if a new battery is purchased.
Consumers should wear gloves and safety glasses when handlingbatteries, keep them upright and place them in a sturdy box or plasticcontainer when transporting them for recycling. If the battery case iscracked or leaking, it should be handled with caution and put in aleak-proof container. Never smoke near or expose batteries to an openflame.
AAA Carolinas members turned in nearly 27 tons of dead batteries lastyear.
More than 101 million lead-acid batteries are sold each year in theUnited States. A large number of batteries are illegally disposed of indumps and water sources or simply sit in the corner of someone's garagewhere they can contaminate soil and groundwater with lead and sulfuricacid or explode in a fire.
The average car battery is filled with 21 pounds of lead, 1 gallonof sulfuric acid, and weighs an average of about 30 pounds.
AAA warns that acid escaping through cracks can cause painful injuriesto curious children or animals. Leaking lead eventually seeps into theground, polluting the soil.
The AAA Carolinas Great Battery Roundup, with partners Club Assist andExide Corp., is designed as a one-week reminder to motorists to locatestray automotive or marine lead-acid batteries and transport them to arecycling plant or AAA approved auto repair facility.
In addition to helping clean up the environment, AAR facilities will perform free, scheduled, vehicle battery checkups for participants dropping off batteries for recycling.
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