OTTUMWA, IOWA -- It's construction season everywhere and there’s even a new addition going up at the Ottumwa/Wapello County Recycling Center.
Crews are just beginning construction on the new Regional Collection Center.
Wapello and Davis County residents will soon have a permanent place to dump their household hazardous waste.
Prior to the construction, Wapello County only held toxic cleanup days once a year.
Recycling Center Director, Janice Bain, said because the county never had a collection center, some people have just been dumping their toxic material in the trash.
"Most of Iowa gets its drinking water from ground water and things that are dumped usually end up in the ground water. Now, our landfill has a liner, but these materials would be hard on it,” Bain said.
A grant for $117,500 from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources will pay for the center and the staff's training.
Household hazardous waste is typically any product that is labeled with words like "dangerous," "poisonous," "caution," or "warning."
The center is scheduled to open sometime this summer.