There aren’t too many households that don’t have old cans of paint, cans of motor oil, old cleaning supplies and other items that may contain a chemical not accepted by most landfills throughout West Virginia and including Harrison County. And there aren’t too many people who wouldn’t like to get rid of those items.

 

Now, if all goes as planned and if funding can be secured, a chance to solve that issue may come in the months ahead. Bridgeport City Clerk Andrea Kerr has been working with the Harrison County Solid Waste Authority, Waste Management and other groups to hold a “Hazardous Waste Pickup Day” in Bridgeport. Although the event would be located in Bridgeport, Kerr said it will be open to all Harrison County residents.

 

“There are a lot of items that the local landfill does not accept,” said Kerr. “Primarily, these are household hazardous waste items that include paints, oils, chemicals, cleaning supplies, etc. … Those items often end up being stored in homes and many individuals don’t know what to do with those items.

 

“Its always been surprising to me that there really isn’t any place to dispose those items. Sometimes it just gets hidden in the garbage because of lack of a place to put it and this will hopefully stop that from happening,” Kerr continued. “This will allow county residents to dispose of the waste properly though a day specifically for it if all goes as planned.”

 

As is often the case, a definitive determination will be based on the funding that becomes available. Kerr said an event of this magnitude can cost upwards of $20,000 to hold. Because of that, she began looking for groups to team up with.

 

“I contacted Waste Management and the Harrison County Solid Waste Authority to partner with us to provide this event to the community,” said Kerr.

 

Partnering also means seeking funds. Waste Management, Kerr said, is providing $5,000 and a grant application through the Solid Waste Authority has been filled out seeking the entire amount. Kerr said it’s very likely that if money is given by the grant that it won’t be for the full amount so she has a contingency plan in place for funding that begins tomorrow.

 

“Richard Barnett (of the Harrison County Solid Waste Authority) and I are requesting funds from the Harrison County Commission. It has been years and years since one has been held in Bridgeport, if ever,” Kerr said. “We are hoping the commission sees the importance of this event and provides us with some funds.”

 

Kerr said the request will be for $5,000. She and Barnett will appear before the Commission at 9:05 a.m. She also said a request will be made to the City of Bridgeport.

 

“We’ll ask Council to support this. I think it would be difficult to try and hold a county-wide event in Bridgeport and ask the County Commission to support with their money if we’re not willing to use some of our own,” said Kerr.

 

Initially, Kerr was hoping to hold it in conjunction with the Community Shred Day being held on April 25. However, she said she’s been told events of this magnitude often create a lot of traffic and if a decision is made to include tires in the disposal it could really cause a large turnout.

 

“The last time there was a household disposal event, which was in Clarksburg several years ago, we were told that there were hundreds of people that took advantage of it and there were cars lined up,” said Kerr. “Because of that, we’ll have to coordinate for a police and city staff presence.”

 

While the event itself is not certain, the date and location are also not determined. Kerr said if the funding is secured then those issues will be handled in short order.

 

“Once the date is picked, we may try to have it in front of the high school and the middle school because you have three lanes in that area that can help with traffic,” said Kerr. “If it does happen, it’s still several months away. The goal is that it will happen and we hope to have an answer on that soon.”

 

Editor's Note: Top photo is a sight many are familiar with in their homes, while City Clerk Andrea Kerr is pictured below.