A
collection facility for household hazardous waste is open in Loudon
County.
The 8-foot by 4-foot steel container at the
convenience center at 300 Rock Quarry Road, Loudon, has barrels that
can be filled with “pretty much anything,” Chris Parks, county
convenience centers director, said.
“As long as it’s labeled and we know what it is, we
can pretty much take it,” Parks said. “… We’re not processing it at
all. All we’re doing is storing it. They’ll come pick it up. We set
it in the drums and they’ll come pick the drums up. All this is paid
for by the state. It’s not costing Loudon County anything for the
building or anything. It’s all free.”
The county in June accepted a grant from the
Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation that is
financing the facility.
Collection will take place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays.
The county had previously participated in two collections a year at
the Loudon County Justice Center.
Having the option to drop off materials year-round is
something Parks considers a plus.
“We normally had participation of anywhere from
135-185 cars per day when we were doing it,” he said. “The big
benefit of this is if someone really wanted to participate in (the
twice yearly collections), they’ve got to save that stuff for at
least six months. Then you’ve got to have a place to store it and it
takes up your space. Now, if you only have one item you can bring it
down here any Saturday.”
Matthew Tinker, county commissioner, also sees the
facility as a benefit, partially for safety reasons.
“I hope that it will save people from having to drive
out of town or store their hazardous materials at their house for
several months at a time where kids could get into them or they can
be spilled,” he said. “I’m hoping this will allow them to have easy
access to be ready to get rid of that as soon as they’re finished
with whatever the chemical they’re using.”
The facility could also be a deterrent to
unauthorized materials ending up in the landfill.
“That’s a huge thing,” Tinker said. “We
definitely hope that it would give people an alternative to just
putting it in a bag and then throwing it in the dump and it
ending up in the landfill. I don’t know that anybody has ever
done that, but hopefully this keeps anyone from resorting to it
in the future.”
The plan had been to open the facility at the
start of April, but delays on the concrete pad where the storage
container sits and making sure the container was vented properly
pushed that back.
The facility was open for a trial run Saturday,
with about 25 residents showing up to drop off items. A grand
opening is scheduled this Saturday.
“The main thing is we wanted to make sure that we
had everything under control and how we ought to do it,” Parks
said.
“Everything went real smooth. We’ve had a lot of training on this. We just agreed not to take anything that isn’t labeled. ... We do have options for them. I’ve got TDEC’s card and Bob Fletcher said he’d be more than happy to come down and meet with these folks and let them get rid of something that we don’t know what it is. Other than that we’re going to take it. So far what we’ve got is labeled well.”
“Everything went real smooth. We’ve had a lot of training on this. We just agreed not to take anything that isn’t labeled. ... We do have options for them. I’ve got TDEC’s card and Bob Fletcher said he’d be more than happy to come down and meet with these folks and let them get rid of something that we don’t know what it is. Other than that we’re going to take it. So far what we’ve got is labeled well.”
The majority of items collected could be purchased at any Walmart or similar store, Parks said.