Byline: Kaylea Berry/Reporter
OKMULGEE, Oklahoma – The Muscogee (Creek) Nation Office of Environmental Services hosted their Curbside Household Hazardous Waste Collection event on Sept. 15. The event was open to Mvskoke citizens, providing their citizenship ID, and Okmulgee County residents, providing a current utility bill. The recycling center accepted automotive products, paint products, other household chemicals, and lawn care chemicals.
MCN Office of Environmental Services Director James Williams said, “This is an opportunity for all the citizens and people that live in Okmulgee County to have a place to drop their stuff off.”
When hazardous materials are thrown away in a dumpster, they are not separated or disposed of safely, and there is no telling where they end up. The Curbside Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event is funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to the EPA’s website, “Hazardous waste reuse, recycling, and reclamation can avoid environmental hazards, protect scarce natural resources, reduce the nation’s reliance on raw materials and energy and provide economic benefits.”
The Department partnered with Basin Environmental, a Mvskoke citizen-owned business in Oklahoma City, to collect, sort, and dispose of the products and chemicals.
The Curbside Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event collected:
100 pounds – flammable aerosol (paint, starting fluid, pesticide sprays, etc.)
2300 pounds – flammable liquids (oil-based paints, lacquers, thinners, etc.)
2000 pounds – non-hazardous/non-regulated water-based paints (latex, etc.)
1000 pounds – used oil for recycling (car, truck, farm equipment, etc.)
375 pounds – non-hazardous/non-regulated trash and debris (empty containers, etc.)
TOTAL: 5,775 pounds of material collected
“We’ll have another big event in November, that’s National Recycling Day,” Williams said. “That will be on Nov. 18. We’ll take tires, batteries, plastics, cardboard, aluminum cans, all the plastics ones, and twos, and that’s a really big event.”
The MCN Recycle Center is located at 12675 Gun Club Road, Okmulgee, OK 74447. If you have any questions, you can reach them at 918-549-2580.
