Article Contributed on: 5/18/2007 10:58:03 AM
Residents waited as long as 90 minutes to drop off paint, motor oil, antifreeze, mercury and myriad other icky materials as well as old electronics at the Household Hazardous Waste Clean-up Day on May 5.
Evergreen Fire/Rescue joined a coalition of community partners including the Mountain Recyclers, Wild Rose Congregational Church, Evergreen Rotarians, Evergreen National Bank, St. Anthony's Hospital, Clean Harbors, GRX and Rooney Road Recycling Authority to remove 15 tons of hazardous materials and 15 tons of electronics from the community.
The clean-up day occurred in a pair of locations: Marshdale Elementary School on North Turkey Creek Road and Ralston Elementary in the Genesee area. Volunteers at Ralston only collected electronic waste and had a much calmer day than the volunteers at Marshdale.
"It was a grand day for recycling at Marshdale," said Bruce Glenn, co-coordinator of the event for the Wild Rose Church. The volunteers of Wild Rose have hosted an electronics clean-up day for several years.
Although the final numbers are not available from GRX yet, Glenn estimated that 30,000 pounds of electronic waste (E-waste) was collected: 222 monitors, 173 computers, 166 keyboards, 149 printers, 74 televisions, 70 VCRs and DVD players, 41 radios, 41 microwaves, 33 answering machines, 30 scanners and seven fax machines.
"I apologize to all the residents that were stuck waiting in line," said Tom King of Clean Harbors. "That is not the way any of us like for these things to go, although I must say 99% of the people were very patient, understanding and appreciative."
Clean Harbors is the private firm contracted by the Rooney Road Recycling Authority to operate the facility on Rooney Road and coordinate outreach events like this one.
According to King, Jefferson County residents brought over 15 tons of materials to the recycling event, which required him to call upon additional trucks and drivers to haul away the icky stuff. The materials collected included:
• 11, 200 lbs of Latex Paint
• 10,875 lbs of Oil Based Paints, Stains and Resins
• 2,850 lbs of Car Batteries
• 1,450 lbs of Oil
• 1,350 lbs of Pesticides and Herbicides
• 725 lbs of Corrosives and Cleaners
• 675 lbs of Aerosols
• 650 lbs of Household Batteries
• 300 lbs of Antifreeze
• 25 lbs of Liquid Mercury
• 20 lbs of Fluorescent Bulbs
"Removing 15 tons of hazardous material from the population translates into a successful event," King added.
"We appreciate the community's willingness to remove those hazardous materials from their homes before an emergency occurs," said Evergreen Fire/Rescue Community Educator Einar Jensen. They made their homes safer for themselves and for emergency responders."
Not even the blizzard that rolled into the region could dissuade residents, nearly 300 according to Clean Harbors, from participating. The heavy snow did complicate removal efforts as trucks continued to remove materials from Marshdale well into the evening; the last truck left at approximately 9 p.m. -- five hours after the last drop-off occurred.
"We at EFR also appreciate the assistance of Clean Harbors, GRX and the coalition of community partners who cooperated to make this event a spectacular success," Jensen added.
"We intend to repeat both ventures next year," said Mereth Meade, one of the event coordinators. She's a member of Evergreen's Rotary Club and the Mountain Recyclers, which was instrumental in developing the recycling station behind King Soopers.
With lessons learned from the events, the coalition looks forward to the next event and would appreciate hearing from other community members who may have suggestions or want to assist. Direct that feedback to Jensen at ejensen@evergreenfirerescue.com.