Facility is now open to the public Thursdays through Saturdays

Information released by Chelan County Public Works

Chelan County residents have a new option for disposal of household hazardous waste with the opening of a Moderate Risk Waste Facility (MRWF) located at 3612 Highway 97A. Household hazardous waste, or HHW, is material that should not be thrown in the garbage but instead be disposed of safely at a MRWF or collection event.

What is Household Hazardous Waste?

Household hazardous waste (HHW) is labeled with key words such as caution, flammable, corrosive, warning, poisonous, explosive, danger, toxic or reactive.

HHW includes, but is not limited to: automotive products, including used motor oil, antifreeze, gas, brake fluid, waxes, batteries and cleaners; home gardening supplies, including pesticides, fertilizers, insecticides, fungicides and herbicides; painting supplies, including oil-based paints and stains, thinners and solvents; kerosene; heating oil; pool and spa chemicals; household cleaners; and fluorescent tubes and bulbs.

Facility details:

The Moderate Risk Waste Facility is owned by Chelan County. It is a project of Chelan County Public Works and its Solid Waste department. The 5,000-square-foot, steel building was built by Black Rock Development and Construction of Moses Lake. The HHW collected at the facility will be packed for safe transport at the MRWF and contractor Clean Harbors of Tacoma will haul the material away for safe disposal.

Among the facility’s features are a drive-up unloading area for visitors; a re-use area for those materials that are deemed re-usable; an office and breakroom area for employees; an emergency wash area; a barrel packing area and lab for material identification; two 200-square-foot storage containers for flammables; and a blast wall for any highly explosive materials that may come in and need temporary storage.

The onsite stormwater system also was designed for a 100-year storm event. The system incorporates Low Impact Development design principles that include pervious pavers in the parking areas, an underground stormwater chamber and a bio-filtration swell to promote infiltration of onsite-generated stormwater.

Hours and cost to users:

The facility is open to all Chelan County residents. Chelan County and the cities of Wenatchee, Cashmere, Leavenworth, Chelan and Entiat are paying for the facility’s operational and maintenance costs. At this time, residents of Chelan County will not be charged for using the facility; however, a $10 donation per trip is encouraged. The donation strategy will be re-evaluated in 2020 after the facility has been operating and usage can be better tracked.

The facility is open to the public Thursday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., beginning on Friday, December 6.

Employees:

The facility will employ 1.5 positions. The Lead Hazardous Waste Technician, who completed 40 hours of special hazardous waste training, will staff the facility.

Timeline of Construction:

Construction was completed in three phases, with excavation completed in 2015 and site/foundation work completed in 2016. Because of a lack of funding, construction on the facility did not begin until November 2018, when the State Department of Commerce and the cities of Chelan County provided the project additional funds. The facility was substantially completed by October 2019.

Project funding:

The facility cost approximately $2.6 million overall to build. The cost includes from design through construction between 2012-2019. It was paid for with a variety of funding, including county and city contributions as well as state funds. The agencies that contributed to the facility are:

  •  Washington State Department of Ecology  – $975,351
  • Washington State Department of Commerce- $539,320
  • Chelan County Solid Waste Program & Surface & Stormwater Management Utility – $638,888
  • Cities (Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Chelan, Cashmere, Entiat) – $510,887

TOTAL $2,664,446. Future operations and maintenance of the facility will be paid for by Chelan County, Ecology, and the cities of Wenatchee, Leavenworth, Cashmere, Chelan and Entiat.

For additional information, visit the Facility website.