King County Wastemobile wants your hazardous waste

The Wastemobile kicks off 17th year of service at Covington event, Feb. 17-19

Cleaning out the garage? Wondering what to do with leftover paint or dead car batteries? King County residents can safely dispose of all household hazardous waste by bringing it to the three-day Wastemobile event in Covington on Feb. 17-19, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The Wastemobile will be located Covington’s Fire Station No. 75, at 15635 SE 272nd St. The site on is on the south side of Highway 516 (the Kent-Kangley Road), one mile east of Lake Meridian.

King County's Hazardous Wastemobile accepts pesticides, chlorine bleach, paint products, automotive products (oil, antifreeze, auto batteries, etc.), fluorescent bulbs/ballasts and other household hazardous items free of charge. By properly disposing of these materials and keeping them out of drains and garbage, residents are helping safeguard their family's health and the environment.

Created in 1989, the Wastemobile was the first program of its kind in the nation. In its first 16 years in operation, the program collected 13,771 tons of household hazardous waste from 306,800 customers. In its 26 collection events last year, the Wastemobile served almost 19,814 King County residents, collecting an average of 100 pounds of hazardous waste per customer, for a total of 1,110 tons.

"The intent of the program is to ensure safe, proper disposal of hazardous products people have in their homes," said Alexandra Thompson of King County's Solid Waste Division. "Our goal is to make disposal of these hazardous materials easy so that they won’t end up in the normal household trash. The number of residents that come out to these events lets us know that we are providing an important and convenient service.”

Last year the Wastemobile’s visit to Covington proved extremely successful. Participation was up by 135 percent from 2004, and a record 98,881 pounds of hazardous materials was gathered and properly disposed.

“Last year’s event at Covington is a great indicator of the growing popularity of the program,” said Thompson. “We’re expecting to see similar successes this year.”

For more information, including acceptable materials and quantity limits, call the King County Household Hazards Line, 206-296-4692, Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., except holidays. Recorded information is available after hours.

Information is also available on the Wastemobile Web site at www.govlink.org/hazwaste/house/disposal/wastemobile/index.html.