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Fact Sheet
July 14, 2011
Collection of Household Hazardous Waste, White Goods and Electronic Goods, Joplin, Missouri
Under one of its emergency response missions assigned by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), EPA and its contractors are continuing to collect three specific categories of residential tornado debris from curbsides in Joplin:
- Household hazardous waste – Including common household items that contain hazardous ingredients, such as paint, solvents, cleaners, pesticides, lawn and garden products, flammable products, pool chemicals, batteries, fluorescent bulbs, automotive fluids.
- White goods – Including refrigerant-containing appliances such as freezers, refrigerators and air conditioners; and other large appliances such as ranges, ovens, dishwashers, washers and dryers.
- Electronic equipment – Including smaller appliances, computers, televisions, game consoles, music equipment, vacuum cleaners, telephones and stereo equipment.
EPA is providing two options for disposal of household hazardous waste, white goods and electronic equipment:
- Residents can set the goods curbside and EPA contractors will canvass the tornado-affected area and pick them up; or,
- The city's drop-off site will 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. (Please keep the materials separated to make them easier to drop off.)
Household hazardous waste is being segregated for proper treatment and safe disposal. Refrigerant gases and hazardous materials are being captured or removed from white goods. White goods and electronic equipment are being recycled. EPA's material collection totals, by category, are updated regularly online at www.epa.gov/joplin.
Additionally, EPA is reminding Joplin residents to keep three other categories of residential tornado debris segregated into piles at curbside, so that they can be collected by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and its contractors:
- Vegetative debris – Including brush, leaves, tree limbs, branches and plants.
- Construction and demolition debris – Including windows, doors, broken wall studs, furniture, carpeting, plywood, shingles, sheetrock and other materials. VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: Construction and demolition debris that may contain asbestos should be kept separate from other construction and demolition debris.
- Small gasoline powered equipment – Including lawn mowers, snow and leaf blowers, garden tillers, generators, chain saws and weed trimmers.
Some common household items containing potentially hazardous ingredients that might be found in homes, garages, basements or other storage spaces on tornado-damaged properties:
Cleaning products – cleaners used to clean toilets, drains, tubs, tile and showers; wood and metal cleaners/polishers, bleach and pool chemicals
Flammable products - propane tanks and compressed gas cylinders, kerosene, home heating oil, diesel fuel, gas/oil mixtures and lighter fluid
Indoor pesticides - ant sprays and baits, cockroach sprays and baits, flea repellents and anti-flea shampoos, bug sprays, household insecticides, moth repellents and mouse/rat poisons and baits
Automotive products - motor oil, fuel additives, carburetor and fuel injection cleaners, air conditioning refrigerants, starter fluids, automotive batteries, transmission fluid, brake fluid and antifreeze.
Lawn and Garden products – herbicides, insecticides and fungicides/wood preservatives
Workshop/painting supplies – adhesives, glues, furniture strippers, oil or enamel-based paints, stains and finishes, paint thinners and turpentine, paint strippers and removers, photographic chemicals, fixatives and other solvents
Miscellaneous – batteries, mercury thermostats/thermometers, fluorescent light bulbs and driveway sealer
EPA is also retrieving orphaned hazardous containers, such as propane tanks that were picked up or moved during the tornado. Persons finding or sighting an orphaned tank or drum should be aware that it can be potentially dangerous and should call EPA at (913) 281-0991 for proper disposal.