HOUSEHOLD HAZARDOUS WASTE DAY CREDIT TO OUR COMMUNITY.

The citizens of Rome and Floyd County came out by the hundreds to take advantage of the 5^th Annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day on Saturday, May 1. The event was held for the first time at our fabulous new State Mutual Baseball Stadium and the weather cooperated fairly well – just a few light showers here and there. Although there was a bit of a traffic jam for the first hour or so with everyone trying to get into the area at the same time, the event ran smoothly and without any major problems. Preliminary totals collected and vehicles serviced indicate that even with annual events like this one, there is still lots of household hazardous waste out in our community and people are really trying to do the right thing with it by saving their materials for these safe disposal events. We collected 2 tractor trailers completely full of tires (estimate of 48,000 pounds); over 21,000 pounds of televisions and computers; approximately 60,000 pounds of paint and paint related products; 27,000 pounds of lead acid and household batteries; 11,000 pounds of used motor oil and antifreeze; 14,000 pounds of pesticides; 6,800 pounds of fluorescent bulbs and ballasts; 7,400 pounds of flammable liquids; and just over 5,000 pounds of all other miscellaneous materials. The total weight generated in this 5 hour period tops 200,000 pounds. There were 780 vehicles that attended the event – 130 more than last year.

A project as large and comprehensive as this one is only accomplished by a lot of planning and hard work from a large body of people. I would like to acknowledge and thank everyone that helped make this event such a resounding success. The Floyd County Commission for approving the funds in the Recycling Center’s budget to pay for the disposal of the materials; Floyd County Public Works for their behind the scenes efforts to provide us with equipment transport and clean up assistance: The City of Rome Solid Waste Department for lending us a garbage truck and John Godfrey to run it and for publicizing the event with handouts in curbside bins. The City of Rome Street Dept. for the use of traffic cones; Mr. Hugh Atkins for approving the Emergency Management Rescue Unit Volunteers to work the event and bring their fire brush truck – specifically: Howard Mullinax, Timothy Herrington, Derion Ware, Jonathan Blair, Michael Dempsey, Tracy Hardy, Ralph Atkins, Oree Daniels, Randy Lacey; Fire Chief Bobbie MacKenzie for providing a fire truck for the event; General Electric Corp for purchasing us 2 tents; Georgia Power for providing an abundance of safety and spill prevention supplies; Piggly Wiggly for food and water; WalMart for a $ 50 gift certificate towards supplies; Floyd Medical Center and EMS for lending us their tents; the Rome/Floyd Humane Society for lending us a tent; Ellie and Gary Christopher; Margaret and Bob Suffill; Herbert Morehead; Millie Stowe; Waynne Zachry; Fred Dent; Bob Witsell; Sue West; James Kane; Floyd County Rome Probation Office for approval of their Work Detail.

I also want to thank the Staff of the Rome/Floyd Recycling Center for working so hard all week prior to the event in order to make sure all bases were covered. Although it is our job – everyone went above and beyond the normal call of duty to assure a successful collection event.

And last, but certainly not least, I want to sincerely thank the citizens of Rome and Floyd County for making the effort they did to store their hazardous materials, pack them up and be willing to wait in line to dispose of them in an environmentally safe manner instead of doing further harm to our environment. We will continue to seek ways to make disposal of these items available to you and appreciate your working with us on this important venture.