City of Lancaster Receives Grant Funding for Expansion of Cleanup Efforts Funds
Last night, the City of Lancaster City Council approved the appropriation of two grants received from the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). The two grants, of $210,936 and $99,402, will be used to expand and improve City oil collection facilities, and to perform much needed dumping abatement at two sites which have become a magnet for illegal dumping.
“It is paramount that we continue our efforts at increasing access to recycling and proper waste handling, while at the same time working to dramatically reduce illegal dumping in the Antelope Valley,” said Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris. “The increase in accessablility to facilities for residents, coupled with continued abatement efforts, is certainly progress toward improving the aesthetics, as well as the environment, of our City.”
In addition to expanding access to oil collection facilities, by opening two satellite collection centers in East and West Lancaster, the larger of the two grants will enable the city to purchase an oil collection truck, enabling staff to provide curbside pickup of used oil. To compliment these efforts, grant funds will also go toward the dissemination of educational materials and advertising, to better inform residents of these expanded services.
The second grant’s primary focus will be on the clean-up of former agricultural facilities, in particular two former turkey farms, which over time have become a haven for illegal dumpers. The funds will be used to remove waste from the sites.