BRATTLEBORO — Windham Solid Waste Management District will host two household hazardous waste events on Saturday, June 1, from 8 a.m. until noon. One event is being held at the Vernon Town Office building at 567 Governor Hunt Rd. The other event is at the Townshend Highway Garage, 1102 Grafton Rd. (Route 35).
The collection events are open to residents in WSWMD member towns: Brattleboro, Brookline, Dover, Dummerston, Guilford, Halifax, Jamaica, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Readsboro, Somerset, Stratton, Townshend, Vernon, Wardsboro, Westminster, and Wilmington. There is a $5 fee, and a limit of 10 gallons of hazardous waste per household.
WSWMD Chair Michelle Cherrier said in a news release that the district's Board of Supervisors recently approved a three-year contract with Heritage Environmental Services of Indianapolis, Ind., with an office in Albany, N.Y., to operate four HHW collection events per year in accordance with requirements of the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.
“We are pleased to welcome Heritage Environmental Services to their first HHW collection events in New England,” she said. “With an average cost of over $100 per participating household, our 18-member towns would most likely find it more expensive to conduct four of their own HHW collection events per year, one of the financial incentives for a town to be a member of the District.”
WSWMD receives approximately $40,000 per year from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation, to help offset the costs. Acceptable materials include roofing tar, paint strippers/thinners, automotive fluids, driveway sealer, pool chemicals, chemical fertilizers, weed killers, pesticides, insecticides, spot removers, bleach, polishes, drain/toilet cleaners, mothballs, and flea control products.
Unacceptable materials include explosives, ammunition, fireworks, radioactive waste, unwanted electronics, medical waste, empty containers, fluorescent bulbs, and paint/paint products. Paint and paint products, batteries, electronics, and fluorescent lights are accepted year-round at the WSWMD drop-off center on Old Ferry Road, Brattleboro.
Two additional collections will be held in the fall for anyone unable to attend the spring collection events. One will be in Brattleboro at the WSWMD and the other at another location to be identified.
For additional information on proper disposal of hazardous wastes and nontoxic alternatives: www.windhamsolidwaste.org.