Hazardous waste collection center opens for season

The City of Fulton's Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center will open again this weekend.

The city will once again start accepting materials such as used motor oil, antifreeze, acetone-based products, paint, paint thinners, household chemicals, pesticides, insecticides and batteries at the new fire station located at 151 W. Tennyson Rd. Local citizens may make an appointment to drop these kinds of hazardous materials off at the fire station from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of each month until sometime in the fall. Pharmaceutical waste such as expired or superfluous medications also will be accepted.

Solid Waste Manager J. C. Miller said the site - which he set up in 2011 with a $38,207 grant from the Mid-Missouri Solid Waste Management District - is important because it keeps dangerous materials out of landfills.

"This makes for a cleaner stream of trash, so it helps the environment and keeps our drivers from coming in contact with it," Miller said.

Fulton Fire Chief Dean Buffington, who will be taking charge of the collection center this year, said it is especially important for those who have old medications to dispose of to call and make an appointment so the department can contact local law enforcement "so we can get rid of them in an appropriate manner."

He said those wanting to drop off hazardous household waste should pull around to the back of the Tennyson fire station so as not to block the garage at the front.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.