Steve wrote:
I now have TWO full canisters of expired flares, both hand held and 12
gauge, with expiration dates that make them old enough to buy booze. I keep
the flares that are up to 3 years expired for backups, just in case, behind
the canisters of the unexpired flares.

I've asked 3 fire departments, 3 police officers, the USCG Auxiliary and the
USPS (Power Squadron, not the post office) and all I get is "I don't
know..." or, one fire department told me to take them out on the Chesapeake
Bay and fire them horizontally, preferably at Bayliners.

What do YOU do?

If your USCGA and USPS won't take them for training, the fire
department
won't take them, the Police bomb squad won't destroy them, etc, you
have a couple of choices.

First, you can ask your local trash authority if they will accept them
at a hazardous waste facility.

Second, ask your local BIG BOX Marine Supply Store if they would
consider hosting a "flare event" in conjunction with one of the mfgrs.
We have had a few of these up this way. The factory rep from the flare
company shows up at the store, pitches the benefits of Brand X flares,
and then accepts any expired flares in exchange for a 25-30% discount
on fresh ones. What the factory rep does with the flares is maybe a
mystery---suppose he takes them out and fires them horizontally? :-)


I got the local fire department to take my last batch of flares. I
showed up at the station and initially got turned away, but as I was
going out the door I commented "It's sure tough to get rid of these
expired flares in a responsible manner. I'm surprised that a lot of
people don't just give up and toss them into the nearest dumpster!" All
of a sudden, the fire department was more than willing to take my
flares. Police and Fire departments do have safe ways to dispose of
explosive and incendiary materials, but I think they don't want to get
into disposing of flares if they can help it. I once read that in the
State of Florida alone there are a couple of hundred thousand marine
flares expiring every year.