Open house for new hazardous waste building a

PALMER— Ten thousand gallons of paint, 16,000 car batteries, and 24,000 gallons of used motor oil go to the landfill every year. For ten years the hazardous waste has been diverted to a temporary holding place. Next Friday a new facility specifically dedicated to handling hazardous waste will open at the landfill.

Join the Solid Waste Division of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough for an open house from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Central Landfill on N. 49th State Street, on Sept. 7.

The $1.7 million building was paid for by both left over grant money from the Dept. of Commerce and Economic Development for a landfill cell as well as from the Alaska Clean Water Loan program.

This facility will ensure that residents can dispose hazardous materials safely and economically, while making sure that these materials don't make their way into the landfill. The 6,000-square foot building will also house the administrative offices for the Solid Waste Division, including seven employees. Prior to the construction of this new facility these employees had been housed in both a portable building and the Central Landfill scale house.

For more information contact Greg Goodale, division manager of the Solid Waste Division at 746-2841.