State funding for hazardous waste programs likely to be cut

Households in Kane County may soon run out of options for disposing of hazardous waste, such as oil and batteries. State funding for popular collection events and the permanent drop-off facility in Naperville is in jeopardy.

Kane County has collected more than 4.8 million pounds of household hazardous waste since 1992 that otherwise may have found its way into local landfills. But county officials said Wednesday all that progress may vanish if state funding evaporates.

"These programs are wildly successful," said Gary Mielke, who oversees the county's solid waste disposal efforts. "But just as we were getting started we may have to stop these programs because of state funding. And we don't see any alternatives right now."

Naperville is host to the region's largest household hazardous waste permanent drop-off facility, located behind Fire Station No. 4 at 1979 Brookdale Road. The budget for this year to operate the facility is approximately $173,000, with DuPage County providing $100,000, Will County $25,000, Kane County $10,000 and the City of Aurora $20,000. The City of Naperville provides the difference, according to Beth Lang, strategic services manager for Naperville's Department of Public Works.

The IEPA told the city recently that it is "business as usual" and there is no indication that the facility will lose its state funding and need to close, Lang said.

However, IEPA spokeswoman Maggie Carson said it is true that the state funds for the collection programs and the Naperville facility have been "swept" by the state. The IEPA is currently awaiting clarification on what money, if any, it will be able to provide to keep the programs alive.

"We very likely will have to cut some or all of these programs," Carson said.

Currently, the state is in charge of taking the hazardous waste from the Naperville facility and transporting the material to a controlled environment where it is ultimately destroyed. If the state funds for that task are gone, Lang said the city will have to take a look at the feasibility of finding other funding options, such as grants or contributions from private corporations.

If other funds aren't found, then charities or home improvement centers may take some of the hazardous material, Lang said. But the reality will be that hazardous waste disposal will likely return to pre-1992 levels.

"Should this facility close due to lack of funding, most, if not all, material collected will end up in landfills, or worse yet, be illegally dumped resulting in huge cleanup costs," Lang said.