The Haines Borough’s free hazardous waste disposal program will take place after a year-long hiatus. Collection dates are July 24 and 25.
On Tuesday, the Haines Borough Assembly authorized an estimated $37,000 to pay environmental consulting firm Cox Environmental Services to run the program that in past years collected and shipped out materials including paint, fertilizer and household chemicals.
“I put more into the budget for the program than was budgeted before. It’s going to be more expensive if we’re only doing it every other year,” Haines Borough interim manager Alekka Fullerton said in an interview June 4.
Fullerton said the borough didn’t consider other companies to run the program.
“Skagway went through the whole process (of researching hazardous waste disposal options). We’re piggybacking off what they did,” she said, adding that by partnering with Skagway to hire Cox Environmental Services, the borough will save money.
Last year, the hazardous waste disposal program was cut due to budget concerns and challenges finding a new company to run the program.
In previous years, Carson Dorn, Inc. handled hazardous waste disposal in many Southeast communities. When the business shut down after the owner retired, towns had to find a new way to keep hazardous waste disposal programs running, Fullerton said.
In 2020, Haines had planned to partner with Skagway to contract Cox Environmental Services until the assembly at the time learned it would be twice as expensive as previously estimated.
In a memo last year, Fullerton said the downside of eliminating the program in 2020 was that it would increase the likelihood of illegal dumping.