Public Should Be More Conscientious

It doesn’t happen often, perhaps twice a year, that a hazardous-waste scare shuts down one of the Spokane regional trash-disposal facilities. When it does, it’s annoying, it’s costly and, usually, it’s avoidable.

Most recently, on Sept. 15, the Valley Transfer Station was closed for half a day after alert employees spotted some common but nevertheless hazardous items mixed in with normal household garbage.

Whoever discarded those materials may not have been aware of the proper procedures, or may have been deliberately trying to duck what he or she expected would be cumbersome compliance rules.

Either way, greater efforts are needed to improve public awareness and understanding of proper waste-handling procedures. And cumbersome they’re not.

Ironically, in fact, whoever mixed a car battery and some leftover pesticide in with the regular garbage actually paid more to dump it than if those materials had been separated. Both the Valley and North County transfer stations, as well as the main waste-to-energy plant, accept such items from households for no charge.

On Monday when a worker detected a suspicious odor, officials could not afford to take chances. They followed standard procedures. They closed the facility, summoned one of the city’s hazardous-material teams, and decontaminated the workers.

As it was, four employees were taken to a hospital and treated for nausea and irritated throats.

Costly incidents such as this one could be avoided with more conscientiousness on the part of the public, and more enterprise on the part of the city.

First, any householder with a question about how to dispose of items such as paints, pesticides and solvents has only to call the household hazardous waste coordinator’s office at 625-7898.

Meanwhile, the city could help by sending a reminder out with refuse bills periodically. Such a notice could include the basic information and could prominently display the telephone number for further information.

There’s a bonus in all this, too. Many materials such as paints or pesticides that are still in their original, secure containers are set aside at the waste-disposal facilities and are free to anyone who can use them.

The sophisticated response that waste-disposal officials initiated earlier this month is one measure of how important proper disposal of hazardous materials is. A stronger public-education effort would be another.

, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Doug Floyd/For the editorial board