Erin and David--there is a recycled market for Halon and it is legal to 
obtain recycled Halon.  I would warn you however, that the cost of 
replacement is extremely high (and will probably increase as the gas 
gets used up), also, the various equipment such as valves, etc., is also 
becoming rare and this increases costs of maintenance, so you might want 
to consider converting to an environmentally friendly alternative.  We 
have Halon, however, some of it has either dumped or leaked and 
maintenance of the system has become so detrimental that we are 
considering shutting down the system.  We are looking for alternatives, 
but unfortunately they are all very costly.  In my research about the 
Halon that dumped I did not come across anything that stated the gas 
would harm the collections.  Once it dumps, if you have the doors open 
or openings such as heating vents etc.) it quickly escapes into the 
atmosphere, causing a bigger hole in the ozone.  The halon gas does, 
however, come out with a great deal of force and can move objects if 
they are not secured. 
Fiona Dejardin
Director, The Yager Museum of Art and Culture
Hartwick College
Oneonta, NY 13820

David Harvey wrote:

> Erin,
>
> I am no expert in this, but it is my understanding that there is a
> market in recycled Halon just as there is in recycled Freon.
>
> Can anyone else confirm that?
>
> Cheers!
> Dave
>
> David Harvey
> Conservator
> Los Angeles, California
>
> On 6/28/06, Erin Blake <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>> We had an accidental Halon dump in the 1980s or early 90s (before my
>> time here) and there were no lasting effects that I know of.
>>
>> But may I ask how you are able to get your system recharged? I was told
>> that because Halon is now a prohibited "greenhouse" gas we could never
>> recharge our system if it went off again. Instead, we'd have to get a
>> completely new system because there's still no "drop in" replacement for
>> Halon (i.e. there are other things, but they require different sized
>> pipes, tanks, number of heads, etc.)
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>>    -- Erin.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------
>> Erin C. Blake, Ph.D.
>> Curator of Art & Special Collections
>> Folger Shakespeare Library
>> 201 E. Capitol St. SE
>> Washington, DC 20003-1094
>> office tel. (202) 675-0323
>> fax (202) 675-0328
>> e-mail: [log in to unmask]
>> www.folger.edu
>>
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