Image: Tony Gore, used with permission / Chilliwack businessman Tony Gore shared this image of jugs of household hazardous waste that were stored inside a home that his company renovated. He encourages Chilliwack residents to take advantage of Saturday's Household Hazardous Waste Day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at 44390 Luckakuck Way (city's operations yard). Items like used motor oil, brake and transmission fluid, propane tanks, wood preservatives and other items are accepted for free at this event on Saturday, Oct. 14.

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Household Hazardous Waste Day Saturday

Chilliwack businessman urges residents to offload hazardous waste for free on Saturday, Oct. 14

Oct 13, 2023 | 10:43 AM

CHILLIWACK — While you can’t dispose of household paint, pesticides or other flammable liquids, Chilliwack residents can still offload things like propane tanks, car and household batteries, wood preservatives, bleach, used motor oil and a litany of other products at a free disposal event this weekend.

The City of Chilliwack is offering a free household hazardous waste disposal Saturday, October 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the city’s operations yard, 44390 Luckakuck Way, near Heritage Park.

It’s open to anyone living in Chilliwack, Cultus Lake-Columbia Valley, Chilliwack River Valley, Popkum, Bridal Falls, Agassiz, District of Kent and Harrison Hot Springs. Residents just need to show proof of residency at the event.

Chilliwack businessman Tony Gore has seen a lot in his time as a residential builder and property manager in Chilliwack. The longtime Chilliwack resident says the event provides residents with an opportunity to offload a lot of things that basically can’t be accepted at bottle depots.

“Honest people store these materials for this day,” said Gore. “A lot of people don’t have the ability or desire to store chemicals.”

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In his line of work, Gore says he has encountered loads of chemicals stored in homes around Chilliwack, or simply dumped in remote areas, the latter of which is illegal and dangerous to the environment.

“Some people have an amazing stockpile of chemicals and want to sell their home,” Gore said. “Do they haul a truck load of chemicals to their new home assuming they have a spot to store it? Do they leave it for the next purchaser to deal with? Or does it magically disappear? I have seen chemicals discarded in remote areas.”

Gore hopes the city of Chilliwack can possibly offer more than an annual hazardous waste drop-off day. He provided a picture accompanying this article of a home where chemicals had been stockpiled. His company had been tasked with renovating the home where the hazardous waste proliferated.

“A lot of this stuff came from one house we renovated,” Gore. “The house had a squatter/old tenant. Sometimes up to 15 people would be crashed there on any given night. As you can see, a lot of containers are old with labels worn off, or chemicals in all different sorts of jugs. Chilliwack is growing and we need a location to have these chemicals dropped off year-round. Leaving it up to individuals quite often is putting it into our environment.”

Gore alluded to another situation where a tenant wants a damage deposit back in order to move to another residence, but doesn’t deal with chemicals or other hazardous waste while they were still in their housing unit. What happens then?

“We are always coming across stockpiles of chemicals,” said Gore. “We will take what we can to the bottle depot. Luckily, we have a location to store chemicals until the city’s hazardous waste day, then hope we don’t miss it and have to wait another year.”

Other items that will be accepted at the event Saturday include dark room chemicals, turpentine, rust remover, spot removers, concentrated acids, furniture polish and stripper, oven and toilet bowl cleaners, drain openers, bleach, swimming pool chemicals, parts cleaners, degreasers, propane tanks, mercury products and fire extinguishers.

Please note that paint, pesticides, flammable liquids and lights are not accepted.