Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) – Missoula Public Health, in partnership with Home Resource, is hosting “Last Best Haz Mat Waste Days” next week.

I spoke to Environmental Health Manager Elena Evans about the upcoming Haz Mat Disposal Days closing event.

The last Best Haz Mat Waste Days event will take place on September 6th and 7th

“A lot of this stuff is just sitting around in garages, basements and things like that, so we’re excited to host Last Best Haz Waste Days on September 6 and 7,” Evans began. “We encourage people to register online at home resource.org/hcd.”

The Haz Mat Waste Days have taken place regularly in recent years, with the last edition taking place on September 6th and 7th.

“Hazardous waste days have been held regularly since the 1990s, about once a year, usually in September,” she said. “Originally there was funding to support this to ensure greater safety in our community, and also for what ultimately ends up in the landfill and could impact our only aquifer.”

The new drop-off point is located at Home Resource at 1515 Wyoming

A new drop-off location has been set up at Home Resource at 1515 Wyoming Street, but Evens said the Last Best event will help raise awareness of the new hazardous waste disposal site in Missoula.

“We’ve always wanted to meet the needs of the community,” she said. “For a couple of years, we didn’t do Haz Mat Waste Days because we felt like the year-round facility opening was so close. But that’s been a couple of years, and that’s why we do Last Best Haz Waste Days to hopefully get people to really look in their basements and garages and clean out all that stuff, so now, at the end of these Last Best Hazardous Waste Days, the backlog is hopefully somewhat reduced.”

Evans also wanted to inform Missoul residents that Home Resource now has a permanent hazardous waste disposal facility.

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To dispose of your hazardous waste, you must register online

“We are excited to partner with Home Resource to have a year-round household chemical disposal center right at Home Resource,” she said. “We are currently open Tuesdays and Thursdays and take appointments. We’ve found that people really like appointments because they don’t have to wait in lines. We tried that at the last few Haz Waste Days and there were no lines backing up all the way across the Scott Street Bridge.”

Anyone interested in disposing of hazardous substances around the house can contact the facility here.