Hazardous waste facility opens
 
The county in June accepted a grant from the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation that is financing the facility.
Collection will take place 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays. The county had previously participated in two collections a year at the Loudon County Justice Center.
 
Having the option to drop off materials year-round is something Parks considers a plus.
 
“We normally had participation of anywhere from 135-185 cars per day when we were doing it,” he said. “The big benefit of this is if someone really wanted to participate in (the twice yearly collections), they’ve got to save that stuff for at least six months. Then you’ve got to have a place to store it and it takes up your space. Now, if you only have one item you can bring it down here any Saturday.”
 
Matthew Tinker, county commissioner, also sees the facility as a benefit, partially for safety reasons.
 
“I hope that it will save people from having to drive out of town or store their hazardous materials at their house for several months at a time where kids could get into them or they can be spilled,” he said. “I’m hoping this will allow them to have easy access to be ready to get rid of that as soon as they’re finished with whatever the chemical they’re using.”
 
The facility could also be a deterrent to unauthorized materials ending up in the landfill.
 
“That’s a huge thing,” Tinker said. “We definitely hope that it would give people an alternative to just putting it in a bag and then throwing it in the dump and it ending up in the landfill. I don’t know that anybody has ever done that, but hopefully this keeps anyone from resorting to it in the future.”
 
The plan had been to open the facility at the start of April, but delays on the concrete pad where the storage container sits and making sure the container was vented properly pushed that back.
 
The facility was open for a trial run Saturday, with about 25 residents showing up to drop off items. A grand opening is scheduled this Saturday.
 
“The main thing is we wanted to make sure that we had everything under control and how we ought to do it,” Parks said.

“Everything went real smooth. We’ve had a lot of training on this. We just agreed not to take anything that isn’t labeled. ... We do have options for them. I’ve got TDEC’s card and Bob Fletcher said he’d be more than happy to come down and meet with these folks and let them get rid of something that we don’t know what it is. Other than that we’re going to take it. So far what we’ve got is labeled well.”

The majority of items collected could be purchased at any Walmart or similar store, Parks said.

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5/6/19