Household hazardous waste day set

By Dick Hettinger
Guest Columnist

October 13, 2007 11:03 pm

— One of the most anticipated solid-waste-collection events of the year is only days away. I refer to the collection of stuff under your sink, in your garage, shed or barn that might be considered hazardous waste. Designed only for home-dwellers or farmers, this event allows you to get rid of such items as old paints, vehicle fluids, batteries of various sizes and even pesticides.
HHW Day, as we call it, is Saturday, Oct. 20, at the Logansport High School. Traffic cones and volunteers will direct you to the drop-off point. The hours are from 9 a.m. to noon.
There is no actual charge for this service, but we will be accepting donations to help us offset our costs. The district believes that this is a great service to the county and a great way to get rid of a multitude of hazardous materials that could harm our environment if disposed of improperly. I believe we get more calls on hazardous material than on any other item.
One major way that you can help us to control our cost is to dispose of your own Latex-based paint. That can be done by simply mixing a cheap brand of kitty-litter with the wet paint in a sturdy garbage bag, and allowing the paint to dry. The paint, and the dry container, can then be placed in your tote for disposal. While we will accept the water-based paint brought that day, we prefer that you dispose of small amounts of it yourself. Oil-based paint cannot be disposed of in that manner and should be brought to us.
The following is a list of items we can accept: paints, thinners, solvents, paint removers, oil, anti-freeze, brake fluid, transmission fluids, hand cleaners, stains, varnishes, waterproofing liquids, sealing compounds, soaps, household cleaners and solvents, drain cleaners, poisons, pesticides including herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and rodenticides, farm chemicals, old fuels (gas diesel kerosene), one pound propane tanks only, fluorescent light bulbs, items containing mercury, household batteries, liquid batteries, and lead acid batteries (car and boat batteries), over-the-counter medications, other toxic, ignitable, corrosive or reactive hazardous materials found in your garage, basement, shed or home.
Materials we cannot accept includes: biological wastes, ammunition, explosives, radioactive material, medical waste, smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. Please call for more information about these items or any items not listed above.
This year we are contracting with NuGenesis, Inc. out of Mooresville to collect the waste. Each company has a slightly different set-up, but the traffic pattern will be the same as it has in past years. Visitors are asked to stay in their vehicles at all times and the material will be off-loaded for you. Our goal is to move you through the line as quickly as possible, and to make this a pleasant experience for you.
By the time you read this article, we will have had our first weigh-in of plastic bags collected by the Cass County third-graders. I will let you know in our next column how the Earth Day contest is shaping up. I am hopeful that we will collect at least one-and-a-half semi loads of plastic by next spring.
As always, we welcome your questions and input. You can contact us by calling 574-732-9253 or stopping by the office at 502 High Street. See you at HHW Day.
Dick Hettinger is director of the Cass County Solid Waste District.

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