Hazardous Waste

Gail Pickering of Baltimore put some gasoline aside last winter when her snow plow broke down. Months later she tried giving it away but found out it was too old to use. Pickering finally parted with the petrol on Saturday, dropping it off at the city Department of Public Works household hazardous waste drop-0ff at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. The event began around 8:30 and by about three hours later more than 220 cars had lined up to drop off such items as household cleaners, automobile oils and wood treatments.

Baltimore officials are considering ways to continue to offer household hazardous waste collection after some people waited in their idling cars for more than an hour to drop off items such as oil-based paint, antifreeze and oven cleaner on Saturday. About 1,800 vehicles passed through the collection site at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute within six hours, according to the city Department of Public Works — three times the highest level from previous events. The DPW used to offer two-day hazardous waste collection events twice a year, but held none last year.

On behalf of Blue Water Baltimore's staff, board and membership, I would like to express sincere gratitude to Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Alfred Foxx, director of the Baltimore Department of Public Works, for reinstating the hazardous waste drop-off program which will occur on April 30, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Baltimore Polytechnic Institute parking lot at Falls Road and Cold Spring Lane. Continuing this vital service, even in these times of limited revenues, is a demonstration of the city's commitment to the revitalization of Baltimore's streams and harbor.

Anne Arundel County Executive John R. Leopold called on the state Wednesday to delay approval of putting coal ash in a landfill just across the county line in Baltimore until the federal government has decided whether the waste should be treated as hazardous. In a letter to Gov. Martin O'Malley, Leopold urged the state to stay its decision to issue a permit to Constellation Energy to dispose of ash from its Baltimore-area power plants in the Hawkins Point industrial landfill operated by Millennium Inorganic Chemical Inc. The county executive noted that the Environmental Protection Agency announced Tuesday that it was weighing whether to regulate coal ash as a hazardous waste, and that the state has yet to adopt rules on transporting ash to keep it from becoming airborne.

Baltimore County will collect household hazardous waste items from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Baltimore County Resource Recovery Center on Warren Road in Cockeysville. County residents may dispose of paints, motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline, cleaning solvents, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, swimming pool chemicals, rechargeable batteries, mercury thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs, fireworks, ammunition and other household hazardous wastes. Staff from the county Department of Environmental Protection and Resource Management will process the chemicals and distribute educational materials.

Baltimore will be host for global trade shows The Baltimore Area Convention and Visitors Association has booked a global trade show for travel planners that will generate an estimated $15 million in spending and 50,000 hotel room night bookings over five years, the convention agency said yesterday. The Americas Incentive, Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition, which will hold its inaugural event in Baltimore from June 29 to July 1, 2010, and each summer through 2014, is expected to bring 3,000 attendees annually and boost the city's reputation as an international convention destination, BACVA said.

Cool, efficient and environmentally correct, compact fluorescent light bulbs are selling by the hundreds of millions. But even as they're cutting utility bills and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the bulbs are also creating a new environmental headache. Compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, contain a small amount of mercury, a potent human toxin that is federally regulated as hazardous waste. As used bulbs are thrown away, tons of mercury could eventually find its way into the environment.

Brooklyn Park Hazardous waste cleanup ordered The owner of a dormant Brooklyn Park pharmaceutical plant, which was found to have open chemicals and 50,000 gallons of hazardous waste on its property, has been ordered to clean up the site by year's end or face federal fines of up to $32,500 a day. A directive issued last week by the Environmental Protection Agency requires Consolidated Pharmaceuticals Inc. to remove a tank of hydrochloric acid by the...

Baltimore residents can get rid of hazardous waste this weekend at the Polytechnic Institute parking lot. The drop-off will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday. Residents can get rid of items including bleach, pesticides, herbicides, car and household batteries, propane tanks, drain cleaner, gasoline and pool chemicals. Polytechnic Institute is at 1400 W. Cold Spring Lane. Proof of city residency, which could be a driver's license or telephone or tax bill, is required.

Hazardous household materials will be collected Saturday at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium. The items will be collected from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Residents may bring: paints, motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline, cleaning solvents, pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, swimming pool chemicals, mercury thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs, fireworks and ammunition and other hazardous household wastes. Residents must use the Timonium Road entrance. Information: 410-887-2000. The county also collects household hazardous waste at the Eastern Sanitary Landfill, at 6259 Days Cove Road in White Marsh, from 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday from April through November.