The Haines Borough’s annual household hazardous waste free disposal program will not take place this year, although the borough is looking for a way to resume the service in the future.
The $31,450 program that in past years collected and shipped out materials including paint, fertilizer and household chemicals, was eliminated from the budget this spring as part of the assembly’s effort to offset the governor’s veto of municipal school bond debt reimbursement.
In a memo addressed to the Haines Borough Assembly, interim manager Alekka Fullerton said the downside of eliminating the program this year is that it increases the likelihood of illegal dumping.
At the July 14 assembly meeting, Fullerton presented members with three options for the future of the program: Doing nothing this year with the intention of collecting hazardous waste every other year; collecting and storing waste annually to ship it out of state every other year; or partnering with Skagway to contract environmental consulting firm Cox Environmental Services to run the program.
At the assembly meeting, members voted to reinstate the program by paying Cox Environmental Services $14,035. However, further review of the company’s cost estimate revealed the program would cost the borough roughly $30,000.
In an email after the meeting, Fullerton said the borough will not move forward with Cox’s proposal. Instead, staff “will be looking into other options, including collecting the hazardous waste and storing it to ship out next year.”
On July 16, Fullerton said she doesn’t know when staff or assembly members will reach a final decision regarding the program’s future.