General Disposal Tips
- Reduce the amount of material you will need to dispose of by only ordering and purchasing the amount needed to complete the job.
- Do not bury waste materials or leave them in the street. Call Whatcom County Solid Waste Department, 676-7695, for information on locations to recycle non-hazardous waste materials. Dispose of hazardous materials at the Disposal of Toxics Program facility at 3505 Airport Drive, Bellingham. If you are unsure whether you are using hazardous materials, contact the Toxics Program staff at 380-4640.
- Cover and maintain dumpsters. Check frequently for leaks. Place dumpsters under a roof or cover with tarps or plastic sheeting.
- Do not hose down “dirty” pavement or surface where materials have spilled. Use dry cleanup methods, such as sweeping, whenever possible.
Disposal of Wastes from…
...Masonry
- Use a crushing company to recycle cement, asphalt and porcelain rather than taking them to a landfill.
- Dispose of small amounts of excess dry concrete, grout and mortar in the trash.
...Painting
- Do not clean brushes or rinse paint containers into a street, gutter, or storm drain. For water-based paints, paint out brushes to the extent possible and rinse in the sink. For oil-based paints, paint out brushes to the extent possible. Clean them with thinner and then filter and reuse the thinner or solvent.
...Pressure-Washing
- When pressure washing building exteriors, use a high pressure-low volume wash to reduce washwater volume. Although non-hazardous wastewater from cleaning operations can usually be disposed of safely by way of the sanitary sewer system, precautions need to be taken to make sure that the material does not go down storm drains. For questions on non-hazardous wastes that can be discharged to the sanitary sewer, contact the Bellingham wastewater treatment plant, 676-6977. In areas not served by sanitary sewer, non-hazardous wastewater from cleaning operations should be contained and/or directed to vegetated areas away from gutters, streams, and ditches.
...Cement Trucks, Vehicles, and Equipments
- Areas where cement trucks can be cleaned should be on site, away from storm drains, and in a depression.
- All vehicles should be cleaned in a designated area that can be graded and bermed.
- Before a vehicle leaves the site, wheels should be washed to reduce amounts of sediment transported onto paved roads.
