Residents drop off 17,000 pounds of hazardous waste

Brent Reed wasn't about to dump leftover paint on the ground.

"You hate to pour it in your back yard. I love the trees," said Reed as he waited to drop off old cans of paint on Saturday during Cape Girardeau's hazardous waste collection day at the 4-H shelter in Arena Park.

Reed wasn't alone in his love of the environment.

Despite heavy rain, 206 Cape Girardeau residents drove through the shelter during the three-hour event, only slightly less than the 240 who dropped off hazardous waste a year ago.

"We did pretty good for a day like this," said Pam Sander, the city's solid waste coordinator. The turnout would have been higher if it hadn't rained, she said.

Last year, Cape Girardeau residents dropped off 14,650 pounds of hazardous materials, including 6,300 pounds of old paint cans and 3,400 pounds of used oil.

On Saturday, the turnout was slightly less but the amount of waste was higher, around 17,000 pounds.

Old paint was the major item again this year. Residents dropped off 4,900 pounds of latex paint and 7,000 pounds of oil-based paint. They also handed over 1,200 pounds of used oil, 700 pounds of pesticides and herbicides, 600 pounds of aerosol cans and 300 pounds of used anti-freeze, as well as smaller amounts of other hazardous waste items.

Kenneth Werner found it a great way to get rid of his old cans of paint, too. "You can't dump it in the garbage anymore," he said.

State law bans the disposal of paint, motor oil and other hazardous waste in landfills. The restrictions have increased over the past 10 years, Sander said.

Hard to uphold law

But cities find it hard to keep residents from dumping hazardous waste in trash bags and putting it out with the regular trash.

Sander said some residents routinely violate the law. But she said the collection day provides a way for residents to get rid of hazardous waste without violating the law.

Law or no law, Theresa Klipfel doesn't want to hurt the environment. She dropped off spray bottles of bathroom cleaners. "I didn't want to pour them down the drain," she said.

Since 1998, the city annually has held a hazardous household waste collection day, contracting with Safety-Kleen Corp. to collect and dispose of everything from paint to motor oil, and pesticides to aerosol cans.

The company regularly takes care of hazardous waste for businesses. It only handles household hazardous waste on the annual collection day.

The environmental cleanup isn't cheap. The city annually pays over $15,000 to Safety-Kleen for the collection work, said Sander. Cape Girardeau city officials explored the idea of going to a curbside pickup of hazardous waste but found it would be too expensive, she said.

Around 20 Safety-Kleen employees hauled the hazardous waste from cars, vans and pickup trucks.

Cans of oil and latex paint were separated and dumped into large cardboard boxes lined with black plastic. Once filled, the boxes were taped shut. Containers of motor oil were emptied, the oil pumped into a special tank truck.

Scott Ussery, general manager for Safety-Kleen's Cape Girardeau office, said the motor oil will be recycled for use in industrial lubricants. The paint will be turned into fuel for cement plant kilns.

Pesticides and aerosols are incinerated.

Motorists were instructed to stay in their cars and let the Safety-Kleen employees remove the hazardous waste.

"It's a safety issue," said Ussery, "and it slows down the process if everybody gets out of their car."

Others pitched in

At times during the morning, motorists were backed up. But seldom did it take more than a couple minutes to unload a vehicle.

"This is the perfect setup for doing this," said Ussery, who was glad to be sheltered from the rain.

In addition to the Safety-Kleen workers, 11 of the city's Public Works Department employees pitched in, along with Steve Overmann and eight students in his environmental science class at Southeast Missouri State University. They handled everything from handing out registration sheets to directing motorists.

Overmann, who directs the university's environmental science program, annually involves his students in the collection effort.

Most cities in Missouri don't hold a hazardous waste collection day. "The city of Cape Girardeau deserves a pat on the back for that," he said.

Overmann used the occasion to get rid of some of his own household hazardous waste. "I brought in brake fluid and pesticides," he said.

Overmann said such collection efforts help keep hazardous chemicals out of landfills. But he said many Americans still throw out too much hazardous waste with their regular trash.

"All of us throw away too many chemicals we shouldn't," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123