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Monthly Archives: March 2012

Fulton’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center is open

For those in the mood for some spring cleaning, the City of Fulton’s Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center is open at the new fire station, 151 W. Tennyson Road.

Residents should call 573-592-3150 to make an appointment to drop off hazardous materials between 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the second and fourth Saturday of each month. The city accepts household chemicals, pesticides, insecticides, used motor oil, antifreeze, acetone-based products, batteries, paint and paint thinners. Expired or unwanted medications will also be accepted. It is important to set up an appointment so that the prescriptions or materials are disposed of appropriately. When dropping off items do not block the garage at the front of the fire station.

The Household Hazardous Waste Collection Center was funded through a $38,207 grant from the Mid-Missouri Solid Waste Management District in 2011.

If you would like more information, visit the Solid Waste Management Program,  Schedule of Local Household Hazardous Waste Collection Events or   Household Hazardous Waste.

Posted on Mar 23, 2012

Pot recycling resumes

When it comes to recycling plastic pots, the Missouri Botanical Garden helps lead the way. In 2011, the Garden’s Plastic Pot Recycling program collected a record 140,000 pounds of horticultural waste and since the program’s inception has saved more than 1 million pounds of plastic garden pots, cell packs and trays from landfills. A significant portion of this program is funded by the Department of Natural Resources and Regionl L, St. Louis-Jefferson Solid Waste Management District.

The main collection site will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., April through October at the Monsanto Center, Missouri Botanical Garden, 4500 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO. Recycling plastic garden pots, polystyrene cell packs and trays at the Garden and other locations throughout St. Louis City and County will help reduce the amount of waste going to landfills.

  1. Household plastic, food plastic, clay pots and plastic bags are not accepted.
  2. Hanging baskets, cell packs, trays and pots of all sizes are accepted, as long as they are made of plastic.
  3. Sort the plastic gardening containers into cell packs, pots, and trays. Remove metal hangers, rings or other materials. Please shake rocks and soil from the containers.
  4. Bring the pots and trays to the Garden’s Monsanto Center or contact local nursery and garden centers in St. Louis County to see if they accept pots for recycling.
  5. The Botanical Garden grinds up the pots and markets the chips to manufacturers who produce plastic lumber, retaining wall ties, or other recycled products.
  6. Plastic timbers are water and pest resistant. The timber can be cut and drilled similar to wooden lumber. Plastic timber outlasts traditional wooden railroad ties that have a life span of only ten to 15 years. For ordering information, visit Landscape Timbers.

For more information, visit Solid Waste Management Districts, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, Green Tips  or Homeowners’ Composting Guide.

Posted on Mar 21, 2012

Land Reclamation Commission to consider hearing requests

 

Two hearing requests regarding mining permit requests are on the agenda for the next Missouri Land Reclamation Commission meeting on March 22 in Jefferson City. 

 The commission will discuss a hearing request regarding a 63 acre site expansion for APAC-Missouri Inc. – Marshall Quarry in Saline County and a hearing request regarding a new permit application submitted by Powers Bluff for 4 acres at Billy’s Gravel Bar in Crawford County. 

 The commission will also discuss the Land Reclamation Commission’s adoption, denial, or change of the Administrative Hearings Commission’s Recommended Order regarding AFI permit revisions for the Fowler Land Company and Liest properties in Barton County. 

 The Land Reclamation Program assures that mined land is returned to the best possible condition for use after mining is completed. For more information or a complete meeting agenda visit dnr.mo.gov/env/lrp/commission/lrc.htm.

Posted on Mar 21, 2012

Green Tips – St. Patrick’s Day

You don’t have to be Irish to enjoy St. Patrick’s Day, which is traditionally the “greenest” day of the year. For a truly green St. Patrick’s Day gift, give friends and family a potted shamrock. They make a wonderful indoor houseplant and are believed to bring good luck. 

Missourians planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a party can leave a green stamp on their event by purchasing reusable decorations, rather than ones that are designed to be thrown away at the end of the day. If planning a traditional meal of corned beef and cabbage and a steaming bowl of potatoes, be sure to compost the leftover cabbage and potato peels and purchase locally grown and packaged beef when possible. For more information about composting and recycling, visit Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

If you prefer to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day at one of the many parades or events held throughout Missouri, consider walking or bicycling if nearby, taking a bus or picking up friends along the way.  Carpooling and using mass transit are great ways to go green by reducing energy use and saving green in your wallet.

For additional environmentally-friendly tips, please visit the department’s Green Tips.  

Posted on Mar 16, 2012

Don’t Kick the Bucket!

On March 5, the department’s 24-hour Environmental Emergency Response Hotline received a call from the Missouri Department of Transportation regarding an abandoned five-gallon bucket on East bound I-70 in the St. Louis area.

The label on the bucket indicated that the contents were a corrosive industrial cleaner. The bucket appeared to be about 1/3 full. Emergency staff responded and over packed the container, placing it into the abandoned container storage facility at the office. Staff will characterize the liquid and neutralize if necessary.

If you see a leaking or abandoned container, or witness an environmental emergency, please call the Missouri Department of Natural Resources at 573-634-2436. Do not touch the material or abandoned containers. An environmental emergency poses an immediate threat to the public health or the well-being of the environment.

Emergency response is the department’s front line of defense against significant and imminent hazardous substance releases that impact public safety and the environment. Duty officers monitor the statutorily mandated Spill Reporting Hotline 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. 

Staff provide technical assistance regarding the chemical and necessary cleanup actions, work with the responsible party to ensure that proper cleanup is completed and impact to the public health and environment is minimized, conduct notifications to various agencies, and determine if an on-site response is needed by emergency staff.

On average, the Environmental Emergency Response section receives more than 1,500 incident calls and responds to nearly 450 hazardous substance emergencies each year.

An environmental concern is a situation that you believe threatens the environment, such as a trash dump or discarded waste tires in a stream.

 

Posted on Mar 14, 2012

Green Tips – Used Tires

Every year millions of tires find reuse in playground materials and are burned as fuel yet every year there are still thousands of tires that end up in illegal dumps.

Scrap tires are a breeding ground for mosquitoes, snakes, rats and other vermin.  

If you change your own tires, these tips may come in handy. 

Leave used tires with the dealer when buying replacement tires. Dealers are required to accept them on a one-to-one basis for a small fee.

 

Tires may be hauled to a tire processor, scrap tire site or tire hauler. Tires can only be taken to a landfill if they are cut, chipped or shredded. Rather than dumping or placing in a landfill, tires can be recycled.

There are places to legally take scrap tires in Missouri. They usually charge a fee per tire and can accept whole tires. Call 1-800-361-4827 or check Scrap Tire Processors in Missouri for a list of processors. 

If we reduce the amount of waste materials by only buying what we need or finding a way to recycle them, we’re conserving resources and saving energy.  

Each year, one scrap tire per person is generated in Missouri or approximately 6 million tires. More than 16 million tires have been cleaned up in Missouri since the department began the scrap tire cleanup program.  Please help us protect our natural resources by recycling tires in Missouri. 

For more information about disposing of used tires, contact us at 800-361-4827 or 573-751-5401.  Visit the Solid Waste Management Program, Scrap Tires and Illegal Dumping or Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.  

 

Posted on Mar 14, 2012