KINGWOOD — Members of the Preston County Solid Waste Authority are considering holding household hazardous waste collection days to allow county residents to safely dispose of paint and other household chemicals.
Don Smith, who represents the Preston County Commission on the board, said people moving into Preston County from out of state are finding old paint, fertilizer and pesticide on their property.
“I’m going to check with the state about hazardous (household) waste disposal,” he said.
Smith said Mon County offers the disposal service to its residents.
“I believe something like Mon County has would be good for Preston County,” he said.
According to the Morgantown Utility Board’s website, MUB holds household hazardous waste collection days. The event is similar to the e-cycling events held in Preston County. Residents drive up and are greeted by a MUB staff person and directed between cones. When they arrive at the drop-off area, specially trained staff removes the materials from their vehicles.
Smith said events like these would keep paint and other chemicals from being thrown into the trash and ending up in the landfill.
“Paint is easy to dispose of. All you have to do is take the lid off and let it dry out. But old oil-based paint is different. The paint dries out, and the oil is on top of it,” Smith said.
He said he was going to reach out to other counties and find out how they collect and dispose of hazardous waste.
“We’d have to have the ability to collect and find a vendor qualified to take it and properly dispose of it,” Smith said.
No further action was taken.
Smith said the 2022 e-cycle grant has been approved for $9,500. He said $7,500 of the grant is to be used for contracted services and $2,000 for advertising and educational material handouts.
He said during the last e-cycling event 21,331 pounds of electronics were collected and 198 CRTs.
Terra Alta Mayor James Tasker said the recycling center will need a new vehicle. He said the brake lines on the large truck are bad, and the small truck broke down and had to be towed. He asked the board to consider purchasing a small box truck for the center.
“I don’t know how much longer we can keep them going,” he said of the trucks.
Smith said the board would look into it.
No other action was taken.
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