Hazardous Waste Collection Continues

An estimated 200 area residents disposed of household hazardous waste at the L.A. city-sponsored hazmobile operation Thursday and Friday at Mission College.

The three-day collection program continues today from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. in a college parking lot on the northeast corner of Eldridge Avenue and Pasha Street.

Alfred Tong, a chemist with the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, which funds hazardous waste collection projects, said 60% of the material received at the site has been paint, and another 20%-25% has been used motor oil and antifreeze.

Tong stressed that the collection points are for household disposal, not business or commercial waste. The hazmobile also does not accept medical waste, ammunition and explosives, including fireworks. Although automobile tires are not inherently toxic, he said, people frequently bring them. They are not accepted.

The hazmobile will accept batteries, flares, pool chemicals and aerosols, said Deanna Boshears, project manager for Philip Services, a private firm contracted by the city to operate the collection station.

She stressed that people coming to the site need to make sure the materials are “secure in your vehicle--you don’t want waste spilling all over the back of your car.”

Boshears said most of the material received at the center is recycled; the rest is neutralized or incinerated.

The city will sponsor another hazardous waste collection Aug. 14-16 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Cal State Northridge parking lot at Lindley Avenue and Lassen Street.

Anyone with questions regarding household waste and its disposal may call the city’s household hazardous waste hotline at 1-800-98-TOXIC.