The Development Authority of the North Country, in cooperation with St. Lawrence County and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, will be sponsoring a free household hazardous waste collection this Saturday, May 17 from 8 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Gouverneur and St. Lawrence County Fairgrounds in Gouverneur. This is a new location for this event. Please use the 217 Rock Island Road entrance to the Fairgrounds.
Items such as leftover solvents, pesticides, pool chemicals, oil-based paints, latex paints, and aerosol cans that still have product in them will be accepted, as well as fluorescent light tubes. Empty aerosol cans, motor oil, asbestos, tires, construction debris and explosives will not be accepted. Electronic waste (televisions, computers) will not be accepted, it can be recycled at most county transfer stations. Empty paint cans should be dried out and disposed of in the trash.
In addition, unwanted or unused prescription and over-the-counter medications from residential households only will be collected by law enforcement at the event.
The collection events are open to residential households only; waste will not be accepted from businesses, schools, farms or municipalities.
For a complete listing of what will and will not be accepted at the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days, please visit https://www.northcountryrecycles.org/HouseholdHazardousWaste. There you can also find tips on how to dispose of items that will not be accepted at the events.
If you don’t want to wait for the event, or wish to avoid lines, residents can now recycle their unwanted paint year-round through a non-profit organization called Paint Care. Through the Paint Care program, several paint retailers – although not all – in the tri-county area will accept leftover paint for recycling. Check www.paintcare.org for details and locations.
About the Development Authority: The Development Authority of the North Country is a leader in providing regional infrastructure and technical services to municipalities that strengthen communities in Jefferson, St. Lawrence and Lewis counties. As a New York State Public Benefit Corporation chartered in 1985 and based in Watertown, NY, the Authority works with partners to meet the region’s infrastructure needs in water, wastewater, housing, telecommunications and solid waste management, owning and operating water and wastewater lines, over 2,000 miles of fiber network, and a tri-county solid waste management facility in Rodman, NY. Visit the Authority online at www.danc.org or www.northcountryrecycles.org.