Cities Urged to Share in Disposal of Toxic Waste

It is so expensive to get rid of the unused paint, cans of old insecticide and other hazardous materials that people accumulate in their garages that Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park) is urging cities to band together to share the cost.

Tanner has written to cities throughout the San Gabriel Valley inviting them to join in a hazardous waste collection program.

Rosemead Mayor Dennis McDonald, who asked Tanner to initiate the project, said it costs up to $100,000 to stage a one-day collection of hazardous waste and pay for the disposal of all the items that people bring in. The cost is beyond the reach of many small cities, he said, and yet residents need some way to legally dispose of trash that is unsuitable for burial in local landfills.

A Costly Problem

The problem, McDonald said, is illustrated by what happened in Claremont when it invited its residents to bring their hazardous waste to the city yard on April 15.

Thomas Baffa, solid waste superintendent in Claremont, said the city received so much paint, used motor oil and other waste, including mercury, asbestos and arsenic, that it will cost $80,000 to dispose of it. The city had budgeted $20,000 for the project.

Baffa said the city collected 1,000 gallons of used motor oil and 5,000 gallons of paint. He said more than 7% of the city’s households brought waste in for disposal, far above the 1% participation rate reported in most cities when they stage hazardous waste collection days. In fact, based on reports he has seen from other cities, Baffa said he believes that Claremont’s rate of participation “was the largest ever in the country.”

The county Sanitation Districts conducted hazardous waste collection roundups last year at five locations, including the Puente Hills and Spadra landfills in the San Gabriel Valley. The Puente Hills and Spadra collection each attracted fewer than 200 participants, compared with 550 in Claremont.

Joe Reilly, project engineer with the Sanitation Districts, said the districts did not accept paint during their collection programs last year because of the high disposal cost, and that discouraged participation.

Baffa said it will cost Claremont about $40,000 to ship the 5,000 gallons of paint it collected to Louisiana for incineration, the cheapest practical disposal option.

Will Accept Paint

Reilly said the Sanitation Districts will accept paint at their next series of hazardous waste collections, probably this fall.

Paint and used motor oil are among the most common types of hazardous waste accumulated by households. Reilly said motor oil can be taken to a number of service stations, where it is collected for recycling. Small quantities of paint can be disposed of legally in landfills if the paint has hardened, he said. A small amount of paint in the bottom of a can will harden fairly quickly once the lid is removed, and then it can be disposed of legally along with regular trash.

Officials of the Sanitation Districts estimate that household hazardous waste accounts for less than 1% of the volume of trash going into landfills. But the waste, such as insecticides and automotive products, can pose problems if the chemicals seep from landfills into ground water, and contaminate water wells.

The Pasadena Board of Directors received a report from its public works department this week outlining several steps the city could take to collect hazardous waste from homes and garages, including annual or quarterly collections, the establishment of a permanent collection site or the initiation of door-to-door collections.

Rely on the County

Barbara B. Cathey, Pasadena’s solid waste planning and operations administrator, said the cost of the various alternatives could range up to $200,000. The board took no action, but City Manager Donald F. McIntyre, noting the city’s budget constraints and the amount of money being spent to begin recycling trash, suggested that the most economical course would be to rely on the county’s collection programs, which don’t cost the city anything.

McDonald, the Rosemead mayor, said he hopes San Gabriel Valley cities will organize their own program so that disposal of hazardous waste will be as convenient as possible.

McDonald, who is a battalion chief and fire marshal in El Monte, said he receives a lot of calls from residents who have old pesticides or other hazardous waste that they cannot dispose of with their regular trash. And unless they have a way to get rid of it, he said, there is a danger that they will dump it illegally.

Tanner said: “It makes a good deal of sense to have all the valley cities share the cost of hiring just one contractor, establish convenient sites for collection and process the waste for recycling or disposal, rather than to have each city run its own program.”

Until households have a convenient way of disposing of their hazardous waste, Tanner said, motor oil, cleaning solvents, bug sprays and car batteries will continue to wind up at local landfills, posing an environmental hazard.