PUTTING HAZARDS IN THEIR PROPER PLACE WASTE CENTER SUCCESSFUL MORE THAN 630 TONS OF PAINT, OIL, ELECTRONICS COLLECTED.

Byline: Daily News

PALMDALE -- More than 630 tons of household hazardous waste and discarded electronics were collected in the first year of the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center.

Local residents disposed of 303 tons of household hazardous waste such as old paint and used motor oil as well as 331 tons of old computers, televisions and other electronic waste at the center, which is open two Saturdays every month at Waste Management's Palmdale landfill.

``We are gratified that the AVECC has been so successful, so quickly. It has certainly contributed to a cleaner and safer Antelope Valley,'' said Bill Minnis, district manager for Waste Management of the Antelope Valley.

Since the 38,000-square-foot center opened in August 2005, more than 7,200 pickup trucks, SUVs, trailers and other vehicles have passed through it to drop off waste that otherwise would have ended up in landfills.

The facility is a partnership among Waste Management, the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster, California EPA's Integrated Waste Management Board, and the county of Los Angeles.

Construction was primarily financed by a nearly $700,000 grant from the California Integrated Waste Management Board's Used Oil Recycling Fund. The fund is paid out of the four-cent fee the state receives on each quart of new motor oil sold in California.

The cities of Palmdale and Lancaster and Los Angeles County each contributed $70,000 toward the center's construction.

The county and Waste Management will each contribute $180,000 to $210,000 a year for the center's operation during a three-year pilot program.

The need for the facility increased in February, when a new state law went into effect requiring that items deemed ``universal waste'' by the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) need to be discarded at designated waste centers.

Among items designated as universal waste are common batteries, fluorescent light tubes or metal halide and sodium light bulbs, old-style thermostats containing mercury, mercury gauges and thermometers that contain mercury, and flammable aerosol cans unless they are completely empty.

Universal waste items contain low levels of hazardous metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium, and can potentially contaminate soil and groundwater, so they cannot be disposed of in the trash and subsequently deposited into landfills.

The center is open to the public on the first and third Saturdays of each month, from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., and is located at 1200 W. City Ranch Road in Palmdale.

For more information, visit ladpw.org/epd/avecc or call (888) CLEAN LA.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Workers unload a big-screen television set at the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center at Waste Management's Palmdale landfill.

(2) Barrels and bins contain discarded household hazardous waste at the Antelope Valley Environmental Collection Center at Waste Management's Palmdale landfill.