Old distress flare disposal

There seems to be a problem with old flares, and no I am not talking about those pants from the sixties. The problem is with expired distress flares from boats.

One of the things that I find most often when surveying a boat is out of date flares. From date of manufacture till the time that they become up for replacement is 42 months which comes round pretty fast and then it's time for those expensive new ones. Often times boat owners forget to check the expiration date. The flares are left in the canister and it is only when some one like me comes along and opens it up that you find that all the flares are out of date, it's not really the boat owners fault he just plum forgets about them. Having out of date flares on your boat means that when the time comes and you may need them in an emergency they will not work.

The USCG are very hot on flares and safety devices in general, as well they should be but paradoxically they will not take and dispose of old flares so what you may ask are you supposed to do with them. Even on boats that have up to date flares many boat owners simply keep the old pyrotechnics on board as a back up. This is all well and good but there comes a time when having 20 year old flares aboard like those that I photographed above is probably not a great idea.

You may think that you could let them off on the 4th of July but this is not a good idea either, it's illegal and carries a maximum $15000 fine.

In an effort to find a solution I contacted few fire departments at random, one or two said that they might take them but most said that they could not. Dumping them in the trash is also almost certainly illegal and most definitely dangerous. My guess is that almost every boat owner who faces this dilemma has a shed full of expired, deteriorating unexploded ordinance. I think it's time that we had a recognized and safe nationally available free disposal scheme.

Comments

[Rob Powell]

I could not agree more. I too have called my local Boston USCG HQ, the USCG Auxiliary, and my local Fire Dept. All passed the buck to one of the others and no one was prepared to take them.

However, rather than a disposal option what I would strongly advocate is the local USCG Auxiliary or even better how about BoatUS setting up locations and days where folks can come and let off flares. It is all well and good having them on board but the vast majority of people have never let one off. In the middle of an emergency is not the time to panic about how to do it or be trying to read the fine print.

I am sure there are many others out there who think the same and I for one would even be prepared to pay a few dollars per flare.

[Bill Parks]

I went through a similar process a few years ago trying to get rid of old flares. I called the Coast Guard, The Auxillary, the local fire department, the local waste department and finally the State Fire Marshall. The only legal way I could find to dispose of them was to take them to a hazardous waste incinerator that was a three hour drive away. I'll take the fifth on what I actually did.