Bonnyville Household Toxic Roundup planned for September

There will be a Household Toxic Roundup in Bonnyville soon and it’s important to take part to help keep our fire crews and the environment safe.

On Saturday, September 25, the Bonnyville Household Toxic Roundup returns to the Bonnyville Fire Hall. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. and will accept all of your unwanted household hazardous items including paint, electronics, used oil products, and tires.

Dan Heney is the Regional Deputy Chief of the Bonnyville Regional Fire Authority.

“It’s great that the event can be held this year after missing last year,” Deputy Chief Heney told Lakeland Connect. “The event is organized by the M.D. of Bonnyville and will be hosted at the Bonnyville Fire Hall.”

Deputy Chief Heney says the Toxic Round-Up event is important as it ensures that your residential household waste materials are disposed of properly.

“Any of these products, if disposed of improperly, can cause both short-term and long-term health or environmental problems,” Deputy Chief Heney said. “Products that pile up around the house can present health hazards to fire crews. We understand the hazards of these types of products but that all changes when they are involved in a home or wildland fire. New even deadlier products can be formed when they are subject to fire conditions.”

Deputy Chief Heney says a great example is when an older fridge or freezer that still uses Freon as a coolant is subjected to the heat of a fire.

“Freon doesn’t burn but it will decompose and one of the products created is phosgene gas,” Deputy Chief Heney said. “Phosgene was one of the chemical warfare gases used during WWI and is a serious threat to health.”

Some products can cause harm to sanitation and landfill workers when they come in contact with them, Deputy Chief Heney added.

“Some products can leach into the soil, or worse they can migrate into groundwater sources, recreational water bodies, or wetlands and have long-lasting negative effects,” Deputy Chief Heney concluded.

Arthur@lakelandconnect.thedev.ca