Committee approves household hazardous waste intergovernmental agreement; Ecology Action Center outlines need for permanent facility

McLean Countys Land Use and Transportation Committee approved an intergovernmental agreement to continue local funding for household hazardous waste collection events and heard Ecology Action Center staff outline work toward a permanent regional collection site.

The agreement, described during the committees meeting as an intergovernmental agreement among McLean County, the City of Bloomington, the Town of Normal, the Bloomington Water Reclamation District and the Ecology Action Center, was moved and seconded and approved by voice vote. Committee members recorded the motion as passed without a roll-call vote.

The Ecology Action Centers Michael Brown briefed the committee on the organizations solid-waste program and recent events. "We have been quite busy in our solid waste program," Brown said, adding the group held a "very successful hazardous waste collection event last fall." He said the agreement before the committee continues local funding to cover the communitys share of collection costs.

Brown said external EPA grants cover the bulk of collection costs and that staff are pursuing a feasibility study for a permanent household hazardous waste collection facility. "As of today, there is no Central Illinois permanent facility for hazardous waste collection, so this is something greatly needed in our community or somewhere nearby," Brown said.

Committee Chair Reeves and other members asked no substantive follow-up questions during the presentation; the report was accepted as an information item and questions were directed to Brown when they arose. No additional direction to staff or changes to the agreement were recorded at the meeting.

The intergovernmental agreement covers shared costs for one-day collection events and the countys ongoing local contribution; the document itself was not read into the record in full during the meeting and the committee did not specify the exact dollar amounts of McLean Countys local share during the discussion.

The Ecology Action Center representative said the feasibility study would evaluate a permanent collection location intended to increase access for McLean County residents and other Central Illinois communities. No timeline or budget for that study was stated at the meeting.

The committee closed the item after the presentation and approved the intergovernmental agreement by voice vote.