Demand at Semiannual Event Overwhelms D.C. Officials
By Kristen Mack and Bill Turque
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, April 27, 2008;
C01
It was billed as a quick and easy way to recycle hazardous material and old electronics. It didn't quite turn out that way.
The District's spring Household Hazardous Waste and E-Cycling collection turned 16th Street NW into a parking lot most of yesterday. Cars were idling for hours as people waited to drop off paint, solvents, batteries and old electronic goods at the Carter Barron Amphitheatre parking lot.
Some people eventually ditched their cars and carried cans of paint, gasoline, even TVs, walking for blocks to the site, part of Rock Creek Park, where they still faced long waits. One put a 26-inch television into a baby stroller and wheeled it in. And some just gave up.
The inconvenient truth: The D.C. government wasn't prepared for the demand to get rid of junk in an environmentally safe way. With people more aware of the need to save the planet, having a twice-a-year drop-off day no longer cuts it.
"People are trying to be green and yet they are sitting in their cars wasting gas," said David Stanley, who gave up in the morning because of the gridlock. He came back in the afternoon, parking a few blocks away so that he could walk his latex paint and gallons of boat oil to the amphitheater.
From the start, it was a mess.
More than 300 people were in the Carter Barron parking lot at 16th and Kennedy streets when workers arrived at 7 a.m., two hours before the event was to begin.
"When you start with that kind of backup, it's hard to manage," said Verna Clayborne, who heads the D.C. Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program.
Based on past experience, she and other public works officials expected 1,800 people to drop off items. Between 3,000 and 4,000 showed up. The District had about 80 people working the event; many were volunteers.
"Our staff did the best they could," Clayborne said. "I'm ready for people to be screaming Monday. We realize we are going to get an environmental slap behind this one."
D.C. officials said they recognize a need to do more. In Montgomery County, residents can recycle hazardous material and out-of-date electronics seven days a week at the Shady Grove Solid Waste Transfer Station. The county also has monthly drop-offs at two satellite locations. Fairfax County has a transfer station and a landfill complex open Thursday through Sunday for people to drop off hazardous goods.
D.C. City Administrator Dan Tangherlini said crowds were especially large yesterday because of the growing interest in recycling and the beautiful weather that drew people outside.
"It took an event that was always popular and just overwhelmed it," said Tangherlini, who waited more than an hour himself to drop off old paint, computers and a car battery he collected from neighbors.
After conferring by phone with Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) early yesterday afternoon, officials decided to extend the scheduled 3 p.m. closing time to accommodate everyone in line.
Tangherlini also said that the city will open its Benning Road trash transfer station in Northeast Washington next weekend for those who didn't get a chance to drop off materials. He said the city is also finalizing plans to make the Benning Road facility and the Fort Totten Trash Transfer Station available for drop-off on alternating weekends.
"There was a lot of good intention and well-meaning out there today. We hope we didn't turn people off from doing the right thing," Tangherlini said. "The worst thing would be that, out of frustration, people put this stuff in the regular waste stream."
Herb Linnen, a retiree who lives in Northwest, said he "took a U turn" after about 40 minutes of waiting to drop off some computers. City employees did what they could to direct traffic, he said. "They had their hands full. It was a lot of brake-screeching and people-hollering."
By afternoon, D.C. Department of Transportation officials were on hand to help direct traffic. By then, the situation was just about hopeless, with side streets also jammed. People with no connection to the event were among those trapped in the congestion, including many stuck at bus stops trying to get downtown.
The scene inside the park was equally chaotic, with multiple soccer matches taking place on the fields surrounding the recycling drop-off. After idling for hours, some cars nearly ran out of gas.
Walking wasn't an option for everyone. Some recyclers had pickup beds full of old computers, paint and televisions.
Wilma Cross put her car in neutral for most of her two-hour wait. "I'm frustrated it's taken this long," she said. "But I'm willing to wait to dispose it properly."
Carroll Muffett lived close enough to walk and decided to do just that after it took him more than 15 minutes to drive two blocks on 16th Street. "This is astoundingly disorganized," he said. "For a city this size, to do this once a year in one neighborhood makes no sense."
Muffett hauled batteries, a phone, a microwave and toaster in a wheelbarrow. Meanwhile, his enterprising 9-year-old, Kate, opened a lemonade stand.
She offered curbside service at 50 cents a cup. In less than an hour, she sold $25 worth.
Staff writer Jillian S. Jarrett contributed to this report.
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