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Wood County Solid Waste Authority schedules cleanup days

Photo Provided The Wood County Solid Waste Authority has announced the times and dates for the free Wood County cleanup days for paint and tires.

WILLIAMSTOWN — The Wood County Solid Waste Authority has announced the times and dates for the free Wood County cleanup days for paint and tires.

These events are free to any residents of Wood County, but commercial business are not permitted. Paints include varnishes, stains, strippers, removers, drywall mud, etc. Tires must be off their rims.

The first event will be in Williamstown at Fenton Art Glass on Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. This event will be only for paint; no tires will be collected there. This event is partnered with the Williamstown-Waverly-Boaz Lions Club, whose volunteers will provide the labor to unload people’s vehicle for them.

The second event will be held at Erickson All Sports Field on Camden Avenue in Parkersburg on July 8 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. This event will be for both tires and paint.

The third event will be held at the Belleville Community Center on Sept. 9 from 8 a.m. until noon and will be for both tires and paint. This event is partnered with the Belleville Fairview 4-H Club, which also will have members there to unload people’s vehicle for them.

These events are once again co-sponsored by DuPont Washington Works, Chemours Washington Works and Waste Management’s Northwestern Landfill in Wood County.

DuPont and Waste Management have been sponsors for over a decade and Chemours joined in beginning its first year doing business in Wood County.

Wood County Solid Waste Authority manages the events, but without these corporate sponsors the events would not be possible, said John Reed of the Wood County Solid Waste Authority.

Just the cost of disposal runs close to $30,000, with tire disposal the largest share at around $23,500. The Board of the Solid Waste Authority budgets money to offset the expenses that the corporate sponsors do not cover.

Since 2008 the Wood County Solid Waste Authority has collected over 119,000 tires from roadside dumps and these collection events. The largest dump was found with almost 7,000 tires in Murphytown.

“Events like these that provide a free place to properly dispose of items helps prevent open dumps that we have had in the past,” Reed said. “We have gone from an average of 47 open dumps per year to now under 12 per year.”

Paint is still one of the more difficult items for consumers to dispose of as it is registered as a hazardous waste material. Paint that has hardened may be thrown away with the regular household trash.

If the paint is not already hard from age, someone can easily harden it by throwing kitty litter in it, stir it for 20 seconds, let it sit 20 minutes, and throw it out. Leave the lids off the cans so the trash hauler may easily identify that it has hardened.

This event will ease that process as officials will take paint that is still fresh as they dispose of it in a special cell in the landfill that is mixed with sawdust and other matter to harden it on site, officials said.

Anyone with questions may call John Reed at 304-424-1873.

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