BREDESEN ANNOUNCES $500,000 GRANT TO
CITY OF MEMPHIS
IN COOPERATION WITH SHELBY COUNTY
Nashville, Tenn. – Governor Phil Bredesen and Environment and Conservation Commissioner Jim Fyke announced today that the City of Memphis, in cooperation with Shelby County, will receive a $500,000 grant to fund the construction and start-up of a permanent household hazardous waste collection site.
“I’m pleased we’re able to award this grant for a facility that will have such a direct benefit to the community,” said Bredesen. “Providing a permanent location for the safe disposal of potentially hazardous materials keeps homes safer and helps prevent pollution to protect our environment.”
Shelby County, through an intergovernmental agreement with the City of Memphis, will construct and operate the facility, which will be located at 6305 Haley Road. It will give the community a year-round location to take household hazardous waste such as cleaning chemicals and pesticides for safe disposal. Shelby County will break ground on the facility July 31, 2006 at 10 a.m.
“This facility should be a real benefit for the people of Memphis and Shelby County,” said Fyke. “I’m glad this community will now have a permanent site for proper disposal of household hazardous wastes like unused paint, used motor oil or antifreeze, unwanted pesticides and other unusable household chemicals.”
The average home in Tennessee produces 20 pounds of household hazardous waste each year. Other examples of items that are accepted at household hazardous waste collection sites include cleaning fluids, batteries, mercury thermometers and swimming pool chemicals.
The Tennessee General Assembly provided for household hazardous waste assistance through the Solid Waste Management Act of 1991. Grants are supported from the Tennessee Solid Waste Management Fund administered by the Department of Environment and Conservation. The Fund receives its revenues from a tipping fee surcharge on each ton of solid waste disposed of in Class I landfills and from a pre-disposal fee on new tires sold in the state. Shelby County’s 21-member legislative delegation supports the grant program and the services it helps provide to Memphis/Shelby County residents and other Tennesseans.
The permanent site in Memphis/Shelby County is the fourth such facility in Tennessee. Davidson, Hamilton and Knox Counties also have permanent household hazardous waste collection sites. After the initial grant for construction and start-up, the permanent sites may apply each year for grants to cover a portion of their ongoing operational costs. This year, each of the three existing facilities will receive an $85,000 grant toward those costs.
In addition, the Department of Environment and Conservation operates free mobile household hazardous waste collection events for those areas that do not have access to a permanent facility.
For more information on Environment and Conservation’s
Household Hazardous Waste program visit the Web site at http://www.tdec.net/swm/hhw/.
| For more information contact: Tisha Calabrese-Benton
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