Page 16 - July-Aug 2019 Vol37 No2

LOUDON COUNTY
Year-Round Household Hazardous
Waste Collection Facility Opens
A collection facility for household
hazardous waste has opened at the
Loudon County convenience center at 300
Rock Quarry Road.
The eight-foot by four-foot steel
container has barrels that can be filled
with “pretty much anything,” said Chris
Parks, Loudon County Convenience
Centers Director.
Waste Must Be Labeled
“As long as it’s labeled and we know
what it is, we can pretty much take it,”
Parks said. “We’re not processing it at all.
All we’re doing is storing it. They’ll come
pick it up. We set it in the drums and
they’ll come pick the drums up. All this
is paid for by the State. It’s not costing
Loudon County anything for the building
or anything. It’s all free.”
In June, Loudon County accepted a
grant from the Tennessee Department of
Environment and Conservation (TDEC),
which 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.
Year-Round Waste Drop-Off Replaces
Twice-Yearly Collections
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
16 TPW July/August 2019
By Jonathan Herrmann
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, Loudon 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 Chris Parks, Loudon County Convenience Centers Director,
describes how materials will be stored in a new household
at their house for several months hazardous waste collection facility.
at a time, where kids could get into
them or they can be spilled,” he said. “I’m up to drop off items, and had its grand
hoping this will allow them to have easy opening shortly afterwards.
access to be ready to get rid of that, as “The main thing is we wanted to make
soon as they’re finished with whatever the sure that we had everything under control
chemical they’re using.” and how we ought to do it,” Parks said.
The facility could also be a deterrent to “Everything went real smoothly. We’ve
unauthorized materials ending up in the had a lot of training on this.”
landfill. The convenience center’s staff has
“That’s a huge thing,” Tinker said. “We decided not to take anything that
definitely hope that it would give people isn’t labeled, but Parks said he can get
an alternative to just putting it in a bag county residents in touch with THEC’s
and then throwing it in the dump, and it Bob Fletcher, who has agreed to “meet
ending up in the landfill. I don’t know that with these folks and let them get rid of
anybody has ever done that, but hopefully something that we don’t know what it is.
this keeps anyone from resorting to it in Other than that we’re going to take it. So far
the future.” what we’ve got is labeled well.”
The facility, scheduled to open in early The majority of items collected could be
April, was slightly delayed by a couple site purchased at any Walmart or similar store,
variables, including proper venting of the Parks said.
steel container. It was open for a trial run
in May, with about 25 residents showing Article used with permission of the News-
Herald, Lenoir City