Calabasas Site : Program Aims at Household Toxic Wastes

A pilot program approved by the Los Angeles County Sanitation District will allow San Fernando Valley residents to deposit their household hazardous wastes at a collection point at the Calabasas Landfill in Agoura in about three months.

Depositing insecticides, solvents and other household hazardous wastes legally is too expensive for most households, said Charles Carry, chief engineer and general manager of the sanitation district. And discarding those toxic substances with regular trash is illegal, he added.

To dispose of hazardous wastes legally, homeowners must hire a private trash hauler, costing between $200 and $500, to take it to landfills about 200 miles away, Carry said.

Household toxics often end up as potential hazards stored in garages and under sinks or illegally buried, dumped in storm drains or the sewer system, he said.

“We want to do something now so we won’t have to keep telling people there’s nothing you can do legally” to dispose of hazardous materials, Carry said.

The single-day collection programs, which will take place at five locations throughout the county over two months, will enable residents to take up to 5 gallons or 50 pounds of hazardous wastes to the landfills.

2 Hazardous Waste Landfills

From there, professional hauling companies will pack and take the trash to one of Southern California’s two licensed hazardous waste landfills in the Kettleman Hills northwest of Bakersfield and Casmalia northwest of Santa Barbara.

Wastes considered hazardous include gasoline, motor oil, insecticides, ammonia, rug cleaners, paint thinner, swimming pool chemicals, fingernail polish and remover, kerosene and antifreeze.

The collection points will not accept paint, which makes up more than 70% of all household hazardous wastes, Carry said. Paint is “basically not dangerous” and, if dried in the can, can be legally disposed of in a landfill, he said.

The $400,000 program, which is being run by the sanitation district, is modeled after similar efforts in three cities in Los Angeles County, and programs in San Bernardino, Orange and Ventura counties. It is the first county-sponsored collection program, said project engineer Bill George.

County officials have yet to announce the specific dates the landfills will accept the wastes. An advertising campaign has not been developed yet either, but George said the district will probably rely heavily on the participation of cities affected by the program, possibly using inserts in water bills and the media.

“This is our steppingstone to see what needs to be done . . . to bring forward a full countywide, yearlong program,” said Rosa Kortizija, assistant deputy to Supervisor Mike Antonovich.

Collection Day Proposed

Two years ago, members of the Agoura Hills City Council proposed to Antonovich that the county conduct a collection day at the Calabasas Landfill, said Councilwoman Fran Pavley.

Toxic products make up one of every 50,000 pieces of household garbage, county statistics show.

But, Pavley added, residents are aware of the potential hazard of small amounts of toxics accumulating in the landfill.

“We’re neighbors to this landfill, and we’re very concerned” about the cumulative impact of taking household hazardous waste and putting it in that area, Pavley said.

At the 400-acre Calabasas Landfill, where 2,700 tons of garbage are dumped daily, inspector Tony Payne said discoveries of illegally dumped waste are infrequent.

The other collection points will be the South Gate Transfer Station, the Puente Hills Landfill in Whittier, the Spadra Landfill in Walnut and the Palos Verdes Landfill in Rolling Hills Estates.