Cars lined up on Kendall and Holley avenues Friday inched their way along to the Bradford Public Works Barn while waiting to drop off old television sets, microwaves, computer monitors and air-conditioners.
At the end of the four-hour event, workers had unloaded electronic items from a record 362 vehicles, almost double the amount of vehicles from last year. The drop-offs filled three large trucks, containing a total of 30 pallets, from floor to ceiling. Another pick-up of left-over items from the collection will take place Monday. The items were hauled away by JVS Environmental in the Johnstown area.
Justin Lund, recycling coordinator for the McKean County Conservation District, organized the PA CleanWays Electronic Recycling Event. He said the event was drenched by rain most of the day.
“It probably started raining around 11 and it didn’t let up that much,” Lund said. “It rained, stopped, rained, stopped, and then it rained really hard.”
As if in defiance of the deluge, the vehicles kept coming. A pizza delivery man, called to bring food to the workers, parked his vehicle and carried the boxes in on foot past waiting vehicles.
“We had to turn away maybe 30 cars” that came in after the closing of the event at 2 p.m., Lund guessed, noting cars were from Pennsylvania and New York state. “At times it was backed up with cars. We actually had people who turned around and left because they didn’t think they were going to get in” after waiting as long as an hour or more.
Most of the items were accepted free of charge, however, television set drop-offs were limited to one per vehicle. At one point, a flatbed truck was seen hauling in three or four large-screen television sets. Only one of the television sets was accepted.
Sandy Thompson, manager of the Conservation District, and fellow employee Jody Groshek, outreach and communications, said they were impressed by the turnout for the event. Also assisting with the drop-off were individuals with the McKean County Adult Probation Department.
“It’s hard to get rid of these things, so when we have this (collection) it’s very popular,” Groshek said.
Thompson said discarding electronic items has become a real issue across the state and surrounding region. Electronic items aren’t accepted with regular garbage pick-ups for landfills because they typically contain toxic heavy metals and hazardous chemicals.
“I had people who came with more than one TV and I told them we could only take one because of regulations,” Thompson recounted. “I told them they should go talk to their legislators. Legislation really needs to do something about this to help this problem.”
She said another drop off for electronics will be held Aug. 5 in Port Allegany, however, there will be a charge per pound for items.
Caleb Miller, an employee with JVS, took a moment to talk about the work he and his fellow employees experience throughout the year. Miller, a resident of Somerset, said he and other employees with the company, which recycles materials from electronics, travel throughout Western Pennsylvania to drop-off sites at communities in the Pittsburgh region and as far north as Bradford.
“We left at 3 a.m. this morning to get here,” Miller said. “We work everyday year-round, except Sunday.”
