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A Weekly Note from Mayor Gary L. Graham
“Traditional Values, Progressive Thinking”
It was a great honor for the City of O’Fallon to receive an Environmental Excellence Award from St. Clair County during an awards ceremony held at the County Health Department in Belleville on Tuesday, April 25, 2006. We received the award for our co-sponsorship of the 2006 Household Hazardous Waste Collection event that was held in O’Fallon on April 8th.
The collection event was a tremendous success with a record number 1,370 households participating. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the residents of O’Fallon for participating in the event as well as the volunteers who directed traffic and surveyed participants. With the help of IEPA officials, we successfully disposed of chemicals that pose risks to our health, our air, our drinking water, and other plants and animals in our environment.
Numerous items were collected at the event. The largest volume included 56 drums of adhesives and sealers, 41 drums of poisons and pesticides, 34 drums of oil, 31 drums of paint, 16 drums of flammable solvents, 14 drums of aerosol poisons, and 10 drums of aerosol paints.
These wastes were recycled or disposed of in a number of environmentally safe ways. Many household batteries, mercury, emptied paint cans, motor oils, fluorescent bulbs, and some solvents were recycled into other useful products. Paints, processable aerosols, motor oils, gasoline, kerosene, paint removers, thinners, and other flammable or combustible liquids were blended with virgin fuels and used as an alternative fuel source for industrial boilers and cement kilns. Many household cleaners, swimming pool chemicals, cyanides and acids had their toxins neutralized or removed by various chemical processes and were rendered harmless. Insecticides, herbicides, waxes and some cleaners and flammable materials not suited for fuel blending or recycling were destroyed by incineration at high temperatures.
The health and safety of our residents and their loved ones is very important to me and by working together we can make sure that we protect our environment both today and for future generations. The strong working relationship between City Hall and the residents we serve is another example of why O’Fallon is such a great community in which to live.
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