Baltimore Residents Dispose of Hazardous Material Ahead of Hurricane

By 10 a.m. Saturday 167 Baltimore residents had come through the Baltimore Polytechnic High School’s parking lot and disposed of their hazardous material.

Robert Murrow, a spokesman for the Department of Public Works, said the event had been going smoothly, and that he expected to finish by 2 p.m. before Hurricane Irene was expected to pummel the area.

“We got permission from Irene to hold this event today,” Murrow joked.

Murrow said the event traffic was normal and not like the 1,800 people that jammed the department’s hazardous waste disposal in April. Murrow attributed the packed disposal day to budget cuts eliminating hazardous waste drop offs in 2010. 

He said limits on the amount of hazardous waste that could be disposed of also lead to a more orderly event.

“[The amount of waste] is pretty residential,” Murrow said.

Anthony Hamilton, 60, who lives on near by Towanda Avenue said he’d never disposed hazardous waste the public works event before.

“I heard about it on the news this morning and I had the stuff in my back yard so I thought I’d bring it over,” Hamilton said.

Jeannie Dalmas of Medfield said that she always participates in the hazardous material drop-off program. She said in the past they have brought all kinds of items to drop off but this morning she was just disposing of motor oil.

Dalmas said she thinks it’s “absolutely” important for residents to properly dispose of hazardous items.