Countywide : Toxic Roundup to Be Repeated Next Month

Residents with old paint, household cleaners and other potentially dangerous materials can get rid of them next month during the county’s second toxic roundup day.

Since the first roundup in April, officials have received about 50 calls per week asking where they can dump waste such as old pesticide cans, according to Karen Peters, a senior staff member of the county’s Hazardous Materials Program.

“(The calls) reflect positively on the people of Orange County. People here are concerned with their environment,” Peters said.

Toxic waste is not accepted at regular landfills for fear it could seep into the groundwater supply.

The roundup is scheduled for July 13 at county transfer station No. 3, located at Douglas Road and Katella Avenue near the Orange Freeway. The free waste collection will run from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Workers will not accept waste oil, which is recyclable, or radioactive materials and explosives, Peters said.

During the first roundup in Huntington Beach, workers collected 270 55-gallon drums containing mostly paint, household cleaners and pesticides. Some of the 582 cars, representing 702 households, that streamed through also brought in cyanide, arsenic and DDT, a federally banned pesticide.