Somebody has to do it: Spend three hours smelling gasoline, latex and oil paint, poison, antifreeze and more that people have had in their homes, sometimes for years, and need to get rid of.

You might call it unpleasant.

&uot;It depends on how you define unpleasant. What you rather do? Have it disposed of in a helter skelter fashion or in an orderly way?&uot; asked Russell Anderson, a volunteer who spent Saturday morning helping the effort to sort and combine various chemicals at the hazardous waste collection done by the Freeborn County Environmental Services department.

He was one of 26 volunteers taking part in what many that day considered an obligation to ensure that the toxic chemicals, car batteries and other materials don’t end up in a landfill, where they might leak into the streams and rivers.

Environmental Services Director Randy Tuchtenhagen said it’s not uncommon for people to dispose of waste in drums in their garages without thinking about what they will do when the drum weighs 500 pounds, or the consequences of burying the drums on their farms. &uot;Of course, those containers rust and then what do you do with it when it starts leaking?&uot; he said.

The program was started in 1996. Before that, Tuchtenhagen said many people must have disposed of the materials improperly.

Ron Sorenson, a volunteer, said, &uot;I was a little skeptical until I saw all the chemicals that could go into the streams and groundwater.&uot;

The collection was the last one in Albert Lea until next spring. Glenville’s will be the last of the season. It is Thursday, Sept. 18. So far this year, the department has collected 30 tons of waste in the county &045; 25 percent of it being containers and other miscellaneous waste, two thirds of it paint, but also about two tons of flammable liquids, and 800 pounds of antifreeze.

Tuchtenhagen said Saturday’s collection in Albert Lea will probably wind up being the biggest collection of the year. The amount hasn’t been tallied yet, but at least a ton of paint was collected.

The collections also have their fair share of non-toxic collections that make their way in to the process. They’ve found cans containing coins, and others with dead animals, Tuchtenhagen said. In boxes turned in, they’ve found old bottles of Jack Daniel’s, vodka and wine. &uot;I think maybe grandpa was hiding a bottle from grandma before he died,&uot; Tuchtenhagen said.

The chemicals will go to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, where they will be distributed to different companies that reuse the materials. Old paint will become new paint and old insecticide will become new insecticide. Materials like liquid propane tanks and aerosol cans will be sent to be recycled. Cleaners like bleach, ammonia and other cleaning products are diluted and dumped down the drain.

Although some are available for people to take on a &uot;free table,&uot; some people question whether the contents of bottles are the same as their labels, Tuchtenhagen said.

He said he was amazed by the amount of volunteers.

Bill Holton said he had been asked to volunteer once when he dropped on some paint a few years back. &uot;Somebody’s got to do it,&uot; he said. &uot;I bet everybody here has brought paint here at one time or another.&uot;

(Contact Tim Sturrock at tim.sturrock@albertleatribune.com or 379-3438.)