Crawford County approves $4,658.93 payment to Clear hazardous-waste collection and prepares HHW building for KDHE inspection

The Crawford County Board of Commissioners on March 13 approved a $4,658.93 payment to Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. to cover February hazardous-waste collection at the county's household hazardous-waste (HHW) site.

County Counselor Jim Emerson told commissioners he received an update and invoice from Cassandra Steinbrook at the SEK Recycling Center, and that once remaining materials are removed and the building is cleaned the Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) can perform a final inspection to close out the HHW program. "After everything is removed the building should be ready for cleaning and ready for KDHE to do final inspection to close out the HHW program," Emerson said during the meeting.

Commissioner Carl Wood moved to approve the payment and Commissioner Bruce Blair seconded; both commissioners voted in favor and Commissioner Moody was absent. Emerson said the county-owned building's future use will be decided after the KDHE sign-off and that there will be at least one additional scheduled pickup to consolidate remaining materials for final removal.

Wood asked whether the Clean Harbors invoice reflected material collected before Road and Bridge crews' cleanup or material taken afterward; Emerson said his understanding is that the invoice covered an earlier shipment and that staff will review cumulative project costs. The county did not provide a total-to-date figure for the HHW project during the meeting.

Next steps recorded in the meeting minutes: staff will complete the remaining pickups, clean the facility, and coordinate the KDHE final inspection; the board did not adopt a final disposal or reuse plan for the building at this meeting.