County Accepting Hazardous Waste

Businesses that produce less than 220 pounds of hazardous waste a month can again take the material to Kootenai County for disposal.

Such waste, which ranges from paint thinner to brake fluid, will be handled the last Tuesday of every month at the Ramsey Road transfer station. Businesses have to make an appointment in advance by calling (800) 728-9648.

There is a charge for the service that must be paid when the waste is taken to the transfer station.

However, Philip Environmental, which has contracted with the county, will pack the waste and handle the shipping manifests.

The service also applies to businesses that produce less than 2.2 pounds of extremely hazardous waste per month.

The county offered such disposal for about six months last year. It was discontinued after the contractor, Chem-Safe, went out of business.

The program grew out of the popularity of the household hazardous waste disposal program that the Solid Waste Department started four years ago.

Businesses started trying to bring waste to the household program, said Paul Jacobson, manager of the hazardous waste program. The county refused because that violates federal codes.

“As a result, things were getting disposed of very improperly,” Jacobson said. “And people were getting hurt.”

Last month, for example, five people were hospitalized by fumes from a container of industrialstrength chlorine that ended up at the dump, he said.

, DataTimes