Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, May 8, 1994 TAG: 9405080044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: E1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
He had driven here with his wife from Atlanta, under the guise of a Mother's Day outing.
Before Robinson knew it, he was part of a three-car caravan carrying household hazardous waste from an aunt's home on Brambleton Avenue to the Salem Civic Center early Saturday morning.
"I used to think of it as a minor thing, throwing away used engine oil," Robinson said. "Now I know better."
Robinson and crew had canisters of turpentine, paint, lime, even a can of asbestos, loaded among the three cars.
In all, just under 500 carloads of similar items were emptied at the civic center Saturday as part of the Household Hazardous Waste Clean-up Day, sponsored by the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority.
The number of cars was about 100 less than in 1992, the first time the event was held. That year, the sponsors ran out of money and had to turn away cars after the first 2 1/2 hours.
"But we were real happy with it this year," said Marni Stinson, one of the event's coordinators. "We got a lot of things in and they're being kept out of the landfill. That's the most important thing."
Initiated by the Junior League of Roanoke Valley two years ago, the event has been taken over by the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority, which operates the regional landfill for Roanoke County, Roanoke and Vinton.
The authority garnered help from Salem, which provided the event site, the Clean Valley Council, which provided manpower to direct cars, and the Junior League, which donated $10,000 toward the day.
The resource authority expects to make the event annual and possibly establish a monthly drop-off site. As cars were driving in, volunteers were asking if people would pay a nominal fee to have a permanent facility to handle this kind of waste. The overwhelming answer: Yes.
As one person told a volunteer, if there wasn't a collection day, he would have kept the materials until he died, and left the worry of cleaning up to his heirs.
This year's collection day came in under its $160,000 budget, Stinson said. The funding was culled almost entirely from tipping fees at the Smith Gap Landfill, said John Hubbard, CEO of the authority.
"It's legal to throw this stuff out and put it in the landfill," Hubbard said of products like insecticides, household cleaners and paints. "But we want to get this stuff out of the waste stream and put it in a responsible disposal site. A lot of these things are also reusable."
On Saturday, gallons of household paints were combined by workers wearing white jumpsuits and blue rubber gloves. The canisters will be given to Salem for recycling. The blended paint will be used by industrial contractors.
By 2 p.m., there were 25 drums, each holding 55 gallons, filled with paint, gasoline, kerosene and paint thinners. The flammable liquids will be combined and reused for fuel, said Ric Fichter, regional manager of Advanced Environmental Technology Corporation.
This year, more paint, herbicides and pesticides were collected than anything else, Fichter said.
Cindy and Barney Nunley of Salem used the day as an excuse to clean out their garage. They estimated they had about 10 gallons of paint, saved over the years for touch-ups around the house.
"We're doing the environmentally correct thing," Barney Nunley said. "Of course, next week, I'll probably need the paint I'm getting rid of."
by CNB