OTTUMWA — When hazardous chemicals are together in a small area, fumes and leaks can combine for an explosive result.

That’s why the Iowa Department of Natural Resources wants the Ottumwa/Wapello County Recycling Center to get an explosion-proof storage trailer as soon as possible.

An IDNR grant will pay for the trailer, which has been budgeted at $23,140. IDNR officials told the Ottumwa/Wapello County Solid Waste Commissionto order the trailer immediately.

SWC Director Jody Gates said commission members discussed the matter at this week’s meeting. The commission voted to order the trailer instead of waiting until the Regional Collection Center was built.

The commission approved buying the trailer from A & A Sheet Metal Products of La Porte, Ind., for a best bid of $21,579 and possibly a freight charge.

The collection center will be a place where citizens can bring their household hazardous materials when the Recycling Center is open. In the past, people had to wait for the city’s occasional Toxic Cleanup Day.

Gates said more dirt work has to be done in preparation for the collection center building.

“Construction should start fairly soon. Pro-Line Company of New Sharon was the successful bidder on that,” she said.

IDNR regulations also specify the groundwater must be monitored. Gates said IDNR is requiring more sampling, too, and that will increase the cost of services.

“It’s not a great deal more, though,” she added.

The collection center will be a small building west of the Recycling Center, 2415 S. Emma St. The one-level structure will be about 30 by 50 feet, or a bit smaller.

Once the RCC is up and running, residents of Wapello and Davis counties can collect their toxic items, list them and call the recycling center for an appointment.

In other action, Barker-Lemar engineers told the commission they can close a portion of the north cell abutment that SWC had installed about a year ago, according to Gates.

“Typically, when you close a cell, it has to have the same type of cap and liner, which is usually plastic,” she said. “Due to a variety of different conditions, IDNR will allow us to close that small area with just a composite clay liner and not put in a plastic liner or plastic cap.”

That change will save the commission about $300,000 in financial assurance money, which is the equivalent proportionate to what the commission spent on cell development in the first place.