Mon Valley residents can take advantage of two free special events this week and get rid of their household chemicals safely, thanks to a grant the Pennsylvania Resources Council received.
An educational workshop explaining how to store and prepare those chemicals for safe collection, reducing waste dumped into landfills and damaging the environment, will be held Tuesday at Clairton’s City Hall from 6-7 p.m. Then on Saturday residents can load their vehicles with 10 gallons or 50 pounds of paint products, pesticides, household cleaners, aerosol cans, automotive fluids, batteries, pesticides and herbicides, CFL bulbs, photography and pool chemicals, and more to drop off from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. at Elizabeth-Forward Middle School, according to PRC Collection Events Coordinator Trevor Freyvogel.
Normally PRC charges people a $20 fee to dispose of household chemical waste at Allegheny and nearby counties events. The Pittsburgh Foundation grant is enabling PRC’s first collection in the Mon Valley and will cover those costs.
Freyvogel said Josh Schuneman, PRC collection events manager, selected the two locations. He’s a Mon Valley native who grew up in North Versailles. His family still lives there and in East McKeesport and White Oak. His great-grandfather worked at the U.S. Steel Homestead Works.
Normally PRC schedules its household chemical and e-waste collections at North, South and Boyce parks in Allegheny County, typically to reach as many people as it can.
Freyvogel said this time Schuneman wanted to not only help residents by locating the events close to them but also to reach underserved areas and develop community partnerships. PRC has been reaching out to the community through the Steel Rivers Council of Governments and the Human Services Center Mon Valley.
“This is an amazing opportunity for us to offer this for free,” Freyvogel said. “[The grant is the] main reason for offering this.”
Participants need to register for both events on the PRC website; he noted that it is not necessary to attend both events.
They do not have to enter an address but rather just a ZIP code so the staff can track the towns, boroughs and townships. Freyvogel said there’s not necessarily a boundary where the Mon Valley begins and ends along the river. But if people from outside the Mon Valley register, they will be directed to other similar collection services near them.
Right now the collection event has 50 people registered; the capacity is 300, Frevogel explained. PRC has been promoting the two events on social media and will continue to do so this week. On average, 500 people bring chemicals to the South Park events.
Because this is a new venture, Frevogel said people who show up the day of the event will still be able to participate. Staff and volunteers will just conduct a brief screening to ensure they are Mon Valley residents.
PRC’s Environmental Education Coordinator Laura Blood will lead the education workshop, and she will explain what household hazardous waste is, how it impacts people and the Earth, and how to get ready for the collection event. She will explain how residents can make nontoxic cleaners, too.
The average home contains 100 pounds of household chemicals, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. A full list of chemicals to be collected is available on the PRC website.
PRC will have staff and volunteers at the Elizabeth-Forward Middle School to keep the event as organized as possible. Signs and traffic cones will maintain the traffic flow.
Participants will need to load all their items in a car trunk or truck bed. When they arrive at the site, they remain in the vehicle the entire time. The items will be inspected and then removed by a contractor PRC has hired.
If residents bring more than the normal amount PRC collects, $20 will be charged for every additional 10 gallons or 50 pounds of chemicals.
Typically PRC pays a $7,500 mobilization fee for its longtime chemical vendor, Environmental Enterprises Inc. of Cincinnati, to work the events. On average, the disposal cost per participant is between $70 and $80, Freyvogel said.
The education workshop is also a new endeavor for PRC. Both events may lead to scheduling more, Freyvogel said, possibly e-waste collections, and the nonprofit may apply for more grants to ensure that happens. This is a first step toward “getting our name out there and getting people know more about our services.
“We’ve been brainstorming. There’s a lot of different ways we can implement our programs.”
Registration for both the educational workshop and the household chemical waste collection event is available at https://prc.org/free-household-hazardous-waste-events-for-the-monongahela-valley/.
Helen is a copy editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, but she's currently on strike. Contact her at hfallon@unionprogress.com.