FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - Feb. 28, 2002
BELLEVUE - Hazardous waste, home composting, illegal dumping and other solid- and hazardous-waste programs in seven Puget Sound counties have been awarded nearly $7 million in help from the Department of Ecology (Ecology). The funds, known as Coordinated Prevention Grants, will assist city and county efforts in Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish and Whatcom counties, including: * 17 hazardous-waste collection and disposal projects, including permanent disposal stations, mobile facilities or special free collection events. * Seven solid-waste enforcement projects to track illegal dumping violations. * 12 projects to make composting bins available at greatly reduced prices so residents can compost grass clippings and other yard waste. Ecology has issued $10.5 million in similar assistance elsewhere in Washington. The two-year grants will pay up to 75 percent of project costs. The funds come from a state tax paid by wholesale distributors of petroleum and other hazardous materials, under the voter-approved toxic-cleanup law of 1989. "People benefit from these programs every day," said George Sidles, a solid-waste manager for Ecology. "These grants are a state-local partnership that gets hazardous waste safely out of homes and saves people money. Recycling, home composting and yard-waste programs greatly reduce the amount of material that has to be transported and disposed of at high costs." The grants helped local governments in the seven counties collect, re-use, recycle or properly dispose of more than 4,000 tons of hazardous waste in the 2000-01 funding cycle. For information on recycling, composting and household hazardous-waste programs throughout Washington, call 800-RECYCLE or visit http://1800recycle.wa.gov on the Web.
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