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EPA Closes Joplin Drop-Off Site for Hazardous Waste, White Goods and Electronic Equipment; City of Joplin Drop-Off Site to Remain Open

Release Date: 06/21/2011
Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 816-518-2794 (Blackberry), whitley.christopher@epa.gov; David Bryan, 816-519-0697 (Blackberry), bryan.david@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., June 21, 2011) - EPA Region 7 has closed its drop-off site for Joplin, Mo., residents to bring household hazardous waste, white goods and electronic equipment pulled from the debris of the May 22 tornado, but a convenient alternative drop-off site remains open nearby, and EPA and its contractors will continue to collect those same items during ongoing curbside sweeps of the city’s storm-damaged neighborhoods.

Although EPA’s drop-off site at the former Lone Elm Wastewater Treatment Plant, 2310 North Lone Elm Road, is now closed, a nearby drop-off site operated by the City of Joplin remains open. The city's drop-off site previously accepted only non-hazardous residential storm debris, but will now accept household hazardous waste, white goods and electronic equipment in addition to non-hazardous residential storm debris.

The City of Joplin’s drop-off site is located at the former city landfill, 901 North Black Cat Road, and will be open daily 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

To simplify the drop-off process and make it safer, residents bringing items to the site are urged to separate items into general categories: household hazardous waste (products such as pesticides, paint, solvent, cleaners and flammable liquids), white goods (large appliances such as refrigerators, washers, dryers and stoves), and electronic equipment (televisions, small appliances, game consoles).

Joplin residents can reach the drop-off site by traveling north on Schifferdecker Avenue, west on Belle Center Road, then north on Black Cat Road. The site’s entrance is on the east side of the street.

EPA chose to close its Lone Elm drop-off site because it was receiving a low volume of materials. EPA and its contractors will now make regular trips to the former city landfill site to collect and dispose of any hazardous and recyclable items that residents bring to that location.

Meanwhile, EPA’s curbside collection of household hazardous waste, white goods and electronic equipment continues to grow. As of June 20, the Agency had collected approximately 46,584 items from Joplin’s tornado debris, including 30,530 items of household hazardous waste, 12,950 pieces of electronics equipment, and 2,102 white goods, as well as 600 propane tanks or cylinders of compressed gases, 192 batteries, and 210 small engines (such as lawn mowers).

Updates to EPA’s material collection totals are posted online.

EPA is collecting white goods and electronics equipment for recycling. Household hazardous wastes, which generally cannot be recycled, are being collected for safe and proper treatment and disposal.