Household Hazardous Waste Day removes chemicals, drugs from Whitley County homes
(Talk of the Town photos by Jennifer Zartman Romano) Tyson Miller of NuGenesis, above, collects paints and other hazardous household chemicals for safe disposal at the Hazardous Waste Day Saturday at the Whitley County Solid Waste District. Below, Whitley County Sheriff's Department reserve deputy Tom Smith stands near two large garbage cans where he and reserve deputy Tim Johnson, not shown, collected unwanted prescription drugs and other medications.
By Jennifer Zartman Romano
You can look at the number of visitors to Saturday’s Household Hazardous Waste Day at the Whitley County Solid Waste District and think of it in two ways, said director Jorell Tucker this afternoon.
“We had 316 cars though,” he said, adding that is about 100 cars fewer than last time the opportunity to get rid of chemicals and recycle waste was offered to Whitley County residents. 
“That could be a good thing,” he said. “Maybe it means there is less out there.”
On Saturday, residents were able to get rid of a variety of items you can’t just throw away – such as tires, paints, solvents, electronics and other items.
The even also provided an opportunity for residents to safely dispose of unwanted medication.
“It helps out the environment and keeps (drugs) off the streets,” said Whitley County Sheriff’s Department reserve deputy Tom Smith who, along with reserve deputy Tim Johnson, assisted the Drug Task Force in collecting the medication Saturday.
Smith did not believe they had collected nearly as much as they have during prior drives, but was still pleased with the garbage can and a half full of medication collected by late Saturday morning.
“It gets us in the habit of being here,” he said, adding that they’ve participated in prior medication collection drives.
Smith said that while some residents wait for the twice-yearly collection drives, they can drop off unwanted medication anytime at the Sheriff’s Department in the Whitley County Jail. The medication will then be turned over to the Drug Task Force to be safely destroyed.
Smith said other communities are increasingly having problems with drugs turning up in their water supply because people, in hopes of safely getting rid of the medicines, flush them down the toilet. This, he said, is not an ideal way of disposing of medication because it then becomes an environmental issue.
He adds that it is also not safe to keep outdated medication in the home, particularly after the death of a loved one to a terminal illness. Unfortunately, he said, criminals watch newspapers and look for opportunities where they might be able to break into homes while families are at funerals in hopes of stealing the deceased person’s medications.
“Drug dealers watch the paper,” Smith said. “They see what a person died from and when the die of cancer, they will break in during the funeral.”
“The coroner now gathers prescriptions,” he said.