Submitted by San Juan County.

San Juan County is preparing for the annual spring hazardous waste roundup events, providing an essential service for residents and businesses to safely and responsibly dispose of hazardous materials. This year’s roundups aim to continue protecting both the environment and public safety by ensuring hazardous chemicals like flammable, corrosive or poisonous substances are properly handled.

“Incidents at the Lopez and Orcas solid waste facilities have really shown us how important it is to handle hazardous waste responsibly. In these cases, chemicals that weren’t disposed of properly caused dangerous reactions, which led to the temporary closure of the facilities. Moving forward, it’s crucial for everyone—both residents and local businesses—to make safe disposal a priority to avoid these kinds of risks,” said Katie Fleming, Solid Waste coordinator with the Department of Environmental Stewardship.

This year’s collection events will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the solid waste facilities across the islands. Residents can dispose of hazardous materials at the following locations: San Juan Island on May 3, Lopez Island on May 31 and Orcas Island on June 14.

This year’s roundup offers households the opportunity to dispose of up to 25 gallons of hazardous waste free of charge. Waste must be contained in containers no larger than five gallons. Containers like gas cans will also be collected. The disposal costs are being paid by the San Juan County Solid Waste Program and the Washington Department of Ecology.

The business collection event on San Juan Island will take place on May 2 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Additionally, businesses have the option to participate in the events on other islands. Preregistration is required for businesses across all islands and must be completed by April 18. For registration details and inquiries, please reach out to Fleming at 360-762-5821 or via email at katief@sanjuancountywa.gov or 360-762-5821.

For a full list of accepted materials and further event details, please visit www.sanjuanco.com/351/Hazardous-Waste.

This initiative is vital to keeping our community safe and ensuring the responsible handling of potentially hazardous materials.

San Juan County’s Department of Environmental Stewardship is responsible for solid waste, marine resources, clean water, cultural resources and climate and sustainability work. The department offices are located at 915 Spring St., Friday Harbor, WA 98250. For more information about San Juan County’s Department of Environmental Stewardship, visit www.sanjuanco.com/839/Environmental-Stewardship.