Emmert said that one common product considered a hazardous waste needing special handling is paint.“With any kind of paint you can keep the lid off and let it dry or get a big piece of cardboard and paint it out and throw it away,” in the trash can reserved for garbage.The city is still in the exploration stage to create certified centers for the disposal of oil and oil filters - already several auto parts stores and car repairs will accept oil change leftovers - and drop-off events are being examined.“The city is trying to have as much as we can locally; it’s convenient for the resident and less expensive for the city,” he noted.For a limited time a grant is covering the costs of the disposal of E-Waste, electronics such as computer monitors and stereos, being accepted at Gold Coast Recycling in Ventura.The city is also working on creating a hazardous waste storage facility which requires extensive permitting, Emmert said. “Right now we don’t have any legal place to store things,” for later disposal, “but we’re working on it.”For more information, call City Public Works Recycling-Refuse Customer Service at 933-4219.
Household hazardous waste: City studying alternatives to disposal
August 13, 2003
Santa Paula News
With fees for household hazardous waste disposal rising the City of Santa Paula is studying alternatives to a program that has fallen on budget hard times.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesWith fees for household hazardous waste disposal rising the City of Santa Paula is studying alternatives to a program that has fallen on budget hard times.In the past, about 100 Santa Paulans were annually directed to a county run program that required them to drop-off household hazardous waste at a Ventura Avenue disposal center. The trip to Ventura was free for those who brought in latex paint, compressed gases, anti-freeze and other hazardous waste, but the city was charged $74 per vehicle for the disposal.“We even had one where someone came in with a zip lock bag of batteries and the city was charged the $74,” said Public Works Superintendent of Utilities Tony Emmert.The cost was covered by special funding available to cities and counties to encourage such services, he noted, but “now the county charges us $74 per car for handling and disposal,” with no city recovery program for costs. “The county used to supplement it with regional fees but that program has fallen apart. . .there are lots of programs like that that lost funding,” and the cost is going up.Emmert said the county is now charging a minimum of about $134 per car, “maybe more. . .” that could rise an additional $30 to $100 more per vehicle.In the past, “We weren’t being very discriminating, not very cost effective,” Emmert admits, but with the lack of supplemental funding and the rising fee, “we’re trying to look at what options we have, we have to learn to swim on our own.”Now, when Santa Paulans call the number for the Ventura Avenue hazardous waste drop-off, the caller is referred back to City Yard Customer Service.“We’re asking people what they have,” and offer suggestions for safe disposal or a disposal referral.
