Published: October 09, 2008 12:08 am      

RECYCLING: Niagara County embracing innovation

Where once trash was sent to rot by the ton, the Niagara County Landfill is now offering two of the most ambitious recycling programs ever run through local government.

While computer towers and monitors are being taken at the Lockport facility (and starting last week also at the North Tonawanda Department of Public Works on Saturdays in October), county officials aim to tackle another pressing issue. A scheduled prescription drug take-back event Oct. 25 at Mount St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston aims to curb leftover pharmaceuticals from tainting residents’ water.

The hospital will host the drop-off for unused pharmaceuticals from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The reason: Keeping drugs in the medicine cabinet or flushing them down the toilet has been identified as a national health concern, ranging from street-level profiteering and abuse to ecological contamination, chiefly in the water supply, the effects of which the nation’s Environmental Protection Agency says are “largely unrecognized.”

It is the first such program in the region and one of only a handful held anywhere else in New York. Where mass drug disposal is concerned, preventing unused portions from ending up in the nation’s dumps or from polluting the water has raised front-page concerns recently, and uncovered a glaring lack of answers.

“The wastewater plants aren’t designed to treat for pharmaceuticals,” County Director of Environmental Health James DeVauld said.

Christopher Jadoch, pharmacy director at Mount St. Mary’s, said the result here has been possible contamination of the Great Lakes region, including fresh water intakes used by municipalities along the Niagara River. The EPA has scrambled to investigate the phenomena but hasn’t concluded there is any immediate threat to public health.

For years, however, residents just flushed them down the toilet, DeVauld said, citing recent reports by the Associated Press uncovering traces of various controlled substances discovered in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water around the country.

To make matters worse, police attribute trends in the abuse of prescribed painkillers and other drugs by teens and adults to an abundance of leftovers.

“(Sometimes) we’re talking about men and women with good jobs and good educations,” Niagara County Sheriff’s Department Chief Deputy James Voutour said.

Once collected, Niagara County will opt to burn the drugs using an incinerator at the Niagara Falls company Covanta, which burns solid waste at searing temperatures and had to be specially approved by the DEC to handle the job.

Refuse Disposal District Director Richard Pope saw one of the first ever drug-burns in Rochester a couple of months ago and wasted no time brining the program here. Some residents there, he said, redeemed prescriptions filled as long ago as 1951.

Of the Lewiston plan, It took the help of numerous county officials and private entities to set up the one-time event to destroy compounds culled from the public at large.

A secondary purpose, Pope said, is to spur state legislation which could set up a statewide infrastructure for people to discard their unused medications at permanent disposal facilities, possibly the pharmacies themselves.

“I like that its a community project as well, it’s not just public, especially with the hospital’s involvement,” County Legislator John Ceretto, also chairman of the refuse district, said.

He and fellow legislative committee member Andrea McNulty stress the fact that the plan doesn’t cost taxpayers anything.

By collecting these items and giving them to those who can destroy or recycle them completely, rather than just letting them pile up, Niagara County is now one of the few places in New York state — and the nation — to go beyond what’s legally required in the interest of what’s right for the environment.

“There’s definitely pride and ownership in being the first in the region,” Pope said.

A permit granted by the state Department of Environmental Conservation late last month calls for a licensed pharmacist and police to be present for the collection of controlled substances. Obtaining such permits can be difficult because the substances involved are considered solid waste and hazardous materials. The primary role of the police is to ensure the drugs collected are kept secure.

“It would be an amnesty similar to a gun drop-off. Unless we get kilos of cocaine sailing through — then we might ask a question or two,” Voutour said. “Our main role is to provide security at the site.”

He said prescription drug abuse now accounts for a large percentage of all drug arrests, because they are easy to obtain and are perceived as less a crime than street drugs, although the charges for a certain quantity of illicit pain pills is the same as those for possession of crack cocaine.

The Lewiston Police Department will assign officers for the event. Cones and traffic management will be provided by North Tonawanda Department of Public Works superintendent Gary Franklin. Christopher Jadoch, director of the hospital’s pharmacy, will be on hand as well as others as required by law.

“It’s not just an event, there has to be legislation for the relief of unwanted pharmaceuticals,” Pope said. “The goal isn’t just to have a successful Oct. 25, the goal is to have a successful Oct. 25 and prompt state legislation.”

“People just don’t understand the importance of recycling prescription drugs.” Ceretto said. “As a legislator I live in Lewiston and I grew up in LaSalle, near Love Canal, and I understand the importance of the environment. (Mr.) Pope’s past career is he worked with the DEC so we are two individuals who believe the environment is an important aspect.”

At the other end of the county’s recycling push is the state’s first permanent county-run electronics drop-off. Computer monitors which can contain about seven pounds of lead and other electronics can be sent out of state by a private company.

That program, permanently based at the Lockport landfill, was piloted in Niagara Falls in September and now this month at the North Tonawanda DPW Saturday’s from 8 a.m. to noon.

Franklin said the first day of drop-off last Saturday was a success, with about 90 customers stopping by the 758 Erie Avenue facility.

Only TVs are not accepted in what Pope called an “intermunicipal partnership between the county landfill and the NT DPW” because of the arrangement with the recycling company and the materials involved.

Of the upcoming event to collect pharmaceuticals, Franklin said:

“It certainly represents the best management practices for these two components of the municipal waste stream.”

Contact reporter Neale Gulley at 693-1000, ext. 114.