New Regional Budget For Hazardous Household Waste Cuts Collection Dates

Share

TwitterFacebookCopy LinkPrintEmail

Essex’s Household Hazardous Waste Facility will have two fewer collection dates than last year for its 10 member towns in its March to October 2020 season, as a result of a new annual budget for the program approved Wednesday by members of the Lower Connecticut River Valley Council of Governments (RiverCOG).

Under this budget, a total of 16 RiverCOG towns will split the costs of $73,000 plus the additional costs of disposal for a new vendor, Virginia-based MXI Environmental Services, to operate the program. The cost to each individual town is based on their population according to Department of Public Health estimates.

The budget includes six collection dates at the Essex facility open to 10 towns and four dates at satellite locations open to all 16 towns in the pact. The six towns who do not have access to the Essex facility pay lower rates in program dues.

Household hazardous waste includes products that are “toxic, flammable, reactive or corrosive,” according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection. Some of the more common items in this category are gasoline, oil-based paints, paint thinners, pesticides, pool chemicals, and antifreeze.

RiverCOG went out to bid for a new contract this winter after its previous vendor — Clean Harbors Environmental Services of Bristol — opted out of extending its contract.

The new contract sets a minimum cost of $13,000 on the member towns for each collection date, meaning the towns would have to pay the difference if their collection cost total is lower than that.

RiverCOG community resource planner Janice Ehlemeyer said in a Friday interview that the overall costs to towns of the 2020 season are expected to be about 2 percent higher than in 2019 if the amount of waste collected is roughly similar.

All of the collection dates run from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. All 16 towns in the pact have access to these four collection dates.

March 28 — Clinton Public Works Garage at 11 Nod Road in Clinton

May 9 — Colchester-East Hampton Water Pollution Control Facility at 20 Gildersleeve Drive in East Hampton 

July 25 — Woodside Intermediate School at 30 Woodside Drive in Cromwell

October 3 — Middlesex Community College at 100 Training Hill Road in Middletown

Residents of the ten members towns have access to these six dates at the Essex facility:

May 30

June 20

July 11

August 8

September 19

October 31