LAPLACE — Despite heavy rainfall, 24 volunteers worked throughout the day April 18 collecting all forms of trash from greater St. John the Baptist Parish residents who felt the items were not safe for curbside pickup.

As part of the 17th annual Household Hazardous Materials Collection Day, 24 volunteers collected the items at the New Wine Ministries parking lot in LaPlace while a second group of volunteers did the same in Destrehan.

Jay Lambremont of Marathon Petroleum Company, who serves as Collection Day coordinator, said the day was a success, adding 163 vehicles made drop offs at the event in LaPlace.

He said 57 tires were donated and approximate totals indicated more than 950 pounds of batteries, over 200 pounds of fluorescent lamps and more than 4,000 pounds of electronics were collected.

“I’m sure that number will be a lot higher, because those guys just kind of estimate until they get into their scales and stuff,” Lambremont said. “We had a steady stream of cars coming through the heavy drizzle. We didn’t expect that. We thought the bad weather might have a bigger effect, but it really didn’t.”

LaPlace’s drive-through total of vehicles was down about 20 compared to last year, but organizers said participation was steady.

“We might be a little lower than we were last year, but most people who drove through had a truckload of stuff that they were dropping off,” Lambremont said. “I think we were really impressed with the collection.”

The effort is put on each year to provide the community an opportunity to drop off materials that would not be safe for curbside pickup.

“It keeps a lot of material out of the landfill and provides them with a recycling opportunity to make sure we properly dispose and recycle these different household hazardous chemicals,” Lambremont said.