Jefferson County Sponsors Annual Household Hazardous Waste Day Saturday, April 21, 2007

Press Release:

For Jefferson County residents with garages and basements loaded with familiar hazardous materials, Saturday, April 21st, will be a chance to do some “spring cleaning” without endangering the environment.  The Jefferson County Commission is sponsoring a Household Hazardous Waste Day on Saturday, April 21st, from 8 am until noon. On this Thursday, April 12th at 10:30 am, there will be a demonstration of what types of materials will be collected next Saturday. Mr. Randy Tipton, director of Environmental Protection, will conduct the demonstration near the courthouse steps (on park side). Since taking on the Department of Environmental Protection, Commissioner Shelia Smoot has planned to aggressively work with the residents and other environmental groups to increase awareness of the services of the department. She believes that the cleanliness of our community directly affects the quality of life.

There will be four regional drop-off sites: Center Point Courthouse, Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, Bessemer Civic Center and the Alabama State Fairgrounds (Birmingham). This event is open to all Jefferson County residents at no charge.  Household hazardous waste, or HHW, is considered any product that is toxic, poisonous, corrosive, flammable, combustible or reactive. Some common examples include old tires, gasoline, pesticides, and used motor oil, batteries, beauty products, household products, paint, and paint thinners. The following materials cannot be accepted: Business waste, mercury, propane gas cylinders, fluorescent or high sodium light bulbs, medical waste, radioactive materials (smoke alarms), asbestos, PCBs, or unidentified materials.  For more information, please call Jefferson County ’s Department of Environmental Protection at 325-8712.