You asked for it, and you got it.
As of Saturday, Nov. 25, Shuswap residents will be able to dispose of certain hazardous materials at the Salmon Arm Landfill.
Ben Van Nostrand, Columbia Shuswap Regional District manager of environmental health, said requests for a permanent drop-off site rather than annual events only were made by people throughout the region during the public engagement portion of the 2014 solid waste management review.
‘It was high on the priority list of what we heard and that’s what helps guide our work plans for the next five years,” says Van Nostrand, noting the service will be free.
Suspecting there may be many people who have been hanging onto hazardous waste in anticipation of an event or a permanent facility, Van Nostrand says staff at the Salmon Arm Landfill will accept the material for one full week from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2.
Because it is a free service, hazardous waste will only be accepted on Saturdays thereafter when staff will be available to go through the material as it arrives at the landfill.
Items that are included in the free disposal include adhesives, mercury debris, pool chemicals, waste fertilizer, grease, grout, cyanides, tar, fire extinguishers, pesticides and herbicides, old glass and solvents.
Paint and oil will not be accepted at this time as there are other programs available for disposal of these items in Salmon Arm.
The hazardous waste program also prohibits explosives, ammunition, biomedical waste and industrial waste.
Van Nostrand says a similar depot opened in Revelstoke last year and Golden is on the books for next year.
Hazardous waste will be accepted at the Salmon Arm Landfill from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily from Nov. 25 to Dec. 2. After Dec. 2, hazardous waste will be accepted from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays only.
For more information, go to csrd.bc.ca/haz-waste-depot or call the waste reduction facilitator at 250-833-5936.
@SalmonArm
barbbrouwer@saobserver.net
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