Waste Not . . .

Many people don’t want a hazardous waste disposal, storage or treatment site in their neighborhood. They don’t want trucks carrying hazardous waste material driving through their community and, in fact, many people don’t even want to think about hazardous waste and how to handle it.

But some community in Orange County is soon going to have to accept a hazardous waste treatment facility and transfer station. And hazardous waste residue will have to be shipped through some cities. And perhaps what is most important now is that Orange County residents and officials are going to have to start talking and thinking about the treatment and disposal of hazardous waste materials.

At a recent meeting called to discuss how Orange County can most effectively deal with hazardous wastes, the consensus of a panel of experts was that the major obstacle in developing a treatment and disposal plan is the reluctance of residents and public officials to deal with the problem.

There are about 5,000 companies in the county producing more than 132,000 tons of hazardous material each year, not all of which is safely disposed of. There will always be a need for disposal sites, but those businesses can help by working to reduce the amount of waste generated, using the latest technology for on-site treatment and by starting to seriously address the problem.