Smithtown collects 11 tons of hazardous waste

Smithtown collected more than 11 tons of gasoline, pesticides and other potentially dangerous trash on April 30 during the town's hazardous waste collection in Kings Park.

Town officials said 293 families deposited trash, which was to be properly disposed of by a Brooklyn firm hired by the town to collect the waste. The cost to the town to hold the collection was $19,000, and the town expects to be reimbursed for $6,390 by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Among the items brought by residents: paint, paint thinner, petroleum distillates, flammable solids, oxidizers, sodium and potassium nitrates, acids, corrosives, herbicides, toxic liquids and solids, lacquers and waste gases.

Another hazardous waste collection will take place on Oct. 1 at the Municipal Services Facility at 85 Old Northport Rd. in Kings Park.