Haines residents can bring household hazardous waste products to the old city shop on Union Street starting 8 a.m. Friday, July 20. There is no charge for disposal.
Steven Haavig, an employee for contractor Carson Dorn of Juneau, said collection will continue until late Monday afternoon. “But there’s no need to show up early. We’ll have plenty of room.” He said they’ll have the same amount of drums and cartons as last year.
Hazardous waste includes, but is not limited to, paint products, acids and bases, used oil, bad gas, photographic chemicals, and car batteries. People can drive up to the sorting tables, where workers help unload and sort materials into the correct bins.
The disposal is primarily for individuals and limited to 220 pounds per household. While the company does take commercial waste, a business may have to pay and let the company know ahead of time, depending on its amount of waste, Haavig said.
The program has been going on for about 20 years and “participation in Haines has always been pretty strong.”
The Haines Borough sponsors the annual hazardous waste disposal. The cost each year is largely dependent on the volume of waste brought in, Jila Stuart, Haines Borough finance director, said. The borough has an $18,500 budget for this year’s disposal. Last year, it spent $17,948, she said.
Haavig said he didn’t know what accounted for the increase, but said it could be due to the increases in freight cost and cost of supplies. He said the amount fluctuates yearly. Stuart said the cost of the program increased from 2010 to 2011 by nearly 30 percent due to a 10 percent increase in mobilization, a 14 percent increase in freight, and a 62 percent increase in the volume of waste collected.