Annandale residents dop off hazardous waste products for safe disposal

Annandale area residents dropped off enough insecticides, paint, fertilizers, acids, household cleaners, car batteries, and other hazardous materials to fill up half of a tractor trailer truck at the Mason Government Center Saturday morning.

Fairfax County hired the Clean Harbors company to collect and dispose of unwanted, and potentially hazardous materials to keep them out of the water system. If hazardous chemicals “find their way into the environment, they can have a dramatic impact on wildlife and can cause birth defects,” says Daniel Brooks of Clean Harbors.

Most of what is collected is incinerated, Brooks says. Some of it is “neutralized,” used for fuel blending, or winds up in landfills. Some of the most dangerous items he has seen at past collection events include explosives and radioactive materials, but none of those items turned up yesterday in Annandale.