(Washington, DC) The District Department of Public Works (DPW) will hold its annual fall collection of household hazards Saturday, November 2, 2002 from 9 AM to 3 PM in the Carter Barron Amphitheater parking lot at 16th and Kennedy Streets, NW.

DC residents can bring items including old cleaning and gardening chemicals, small quantities of gasoline, pesticides and poisons, acids, varnish, oil-based paints, solvents, aerosols, wood preservatives, spent batteries of all kinds, roofing tar, chemistry sets, automotive fluids, even asbestos floor tiles to the collection site for environmentally safe disposal or recycling.

A professional hazardous waste contractor will remove materials from the residents' vehicles. A licensed hauler will take the waste to an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved facility for processing. It is estimated that the average home contains between 50 and 100 pounds of accumulated hazardous wastes including car batteries, paint and petroleum products.

DPW will have a special electronics recycler on-site for the Household Hazardous Waste Collection. Residents may bring televisions and audio equipment (except speakers), computers, computer parts and computer components. All computer monitors and TV screens must be intact, not cracked, punctured or shattered.

A small fee is assessed only for TVs and computer monitors, which contain a significant amount of lead and require special handling. The fee is dependent on the size of the screen (CRT tube). For screens under 15" the fee is $5; 16" to 19" screens - $7; 20" to 29" - $12. For screens size 30", the fee is $29.

Items that will not be accepted during the Household Hazardous Waste Collection Day include ammunition, explosives, wooden TV consoles, propane tanks, microwave ovens and other appliances, radioactive or biologically active wastes.