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EPA, State and County Promote Household Hazardous Waste Pickup in Nassau County

Release Date: 11/19/2012
Contact Information: Elias Rodriguez, 732-672-5520, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov or John Martin, 646-256-6710, martin.johnj@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y.) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and Nassau County are continuing to collect and properly dispose of potentially hazardous common household products from flood-damaged homes in Nassau County. The public in Nassau County is encouraged to put waste products on their curb for pickup, including: solvents, paints, cleaners, oil, propane tanks, batteries, petroleum products, weed/bug killers, car batteries, bleach and ammonia. The EPA and its contractors will continue to drive the streets of impacted areas to conduct curbside pickup of household hazardous waste through the month of November. The EPA may have already completed the work in certain neighborhoods. If it appears that this is the case in a particular community, people should contact their local Sanitation Department to determine when they can bring their household hazardous waste to a drop off location. People can also bring their household hazardous waste from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. to Merrick Transfer Station, 1600 Merrick Road, Merrick, NY, Nickerson Beach Park (parking lot), 880 Lido Boulevard, Lido Beach, NY and 101 Bethpage Sweet Hollow Road, Old Bethpage, NY.

“Household hazardous waste, such as petroleum products, old paint and pesticides can be dangerous and should be disposed of properly to protect people’s health and the environment,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “The EPA is urging people to separate potentially hazardous products from their regular trash and place them on the curb in areas with curbside pickup, or bring the items to designated drop off sites in Nassau County.”

Oil-contaminated debris or material contaminated by other petroleum or chemical products should be separated and stored in a well-ventilated area. If stored outdoors, the piles should be covered to keep rain from contaminating nearby soil and water. Any chemical or oil spills, such as from home heating oil tanks, must be reported to DEC at 1-800-457-7362.

It is also important to clean and disinfect everything touched by flood waters as quickly as possible, since they may contain bacteria or toxic chemicals from sources as varied as pesticides, heating oil and sewage.

Porous items need to be dried right away to prevent mold. If possible, household furnishings should be cleaned or disinfected. If they cannot be cleaned, they should be discarded. Hard, non-porous surfaces should also be cleaned. For detailed advice, see the State Department of Health’s website http://www.health.ny.gov/environmental/emergency/weather/hurricane/ and https://www.epa.gov/sandy/factsheets.html .

The EPA and DEC have also worked with communities to establish temporary storage areas for storm-generated debris. New Yorkers can find more information by calling the EPA at 888-283-7626 or the DEC regional office on Long Island at 516-444-0375 during normal business hours to obtain specific disposal information.

More information can be found at https://www.epa.gov/sandy.

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/eparegion2

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