Time to toss toxic trash

By Benning W. De La Mater, Berkshire Eagle Staff

A worker from Clean Harbors pours paint during a 2007 hazardous waste collection. (CET file photo.)

LEE -- Tucked away on basement shelves and inside garage storage cabinets sit half-used cans of paint, wood stains and industrial cleaners.

These chemicals can corrode a fine piece of metal, catch fire and irritate skin, so imagine what they could do if they were to seep into the ground or leak into a water source.

Years ago, that's what happened. But yesterday, more than 150 residents in South County rounded up their hazardous materials and turned them in.

The Southern Berkshire Regional Household Hazardous Waste Program collected tons of materials from residents across the 15-town district.

Jamie Cahillane, director of recycling services for the Center for Ecological Technology, the organization which spearheaded the event, said if collections like yesterday's weren't held, the chemicals would end up in the soil.

"If they aren't collected, they end up in a landfill or seep into a lake," he said.

When homeowners pour these chemicals down their sink, they can contaminate septic systems or wastewater treatment plants. If they end up in the trash, workers can be injured, and the effects on the environment can be devastating.

Residents yesterday turned in oil-based paints, stains, cleaners, old appliances, products containing mercury, computers and television sets.

Holly and Dick Stover, of Richmond, filled up the back of their car with mercury-laced thermometers, florescent light bulbs, paint cans, ant killer and rat poison. Some of it had been sitting around their house for more than 50 years.

"Some of this stuff was my dad's," said Holly Stover, 70. "And he's been gone for 30 years. A lot of it was laced with arsenic."

She said it's easy for a basement to accumulate leftover paint and cleaners.

"You paint, and you think you'll need the leftovers to touch up, but you never use it," she said. "But people are much more aware of the environment today. We have to change our habits."

Chemicals were collected by Clean Harbors Environmental Services from Norwell, which will incinerate the harmful substances. Computers and television sets (a $10 disposal charge) were collected by Good Point Recycling from Middlebury, Vt.

Employee Matt Swan said the company will test all of the equipment to determine what can be saved.

"The good stuff will be resold," he said. "The bad ones will have their parts removed and will be recycled. As much as can be saved, we'll use."

Cahillane said latex paint is not a hazardous material. If homeowners have leftovers, he suggests to dry out the contents of the cans and dispose of it in the trash.