The South Bay is likely to have...

The South Bay is likely to have some of the cleanest garages in town today, thanks to the city of Los Angeles’ Household Hazardous Waste Roundup on Saturday.

At the end of the six-hour roundup in Harbor City, more than 1,000 residents had dropped off hundreds of containers of paint, used motor oil, insecticides and other hazardous materials.

With state voter approval of Proposition 65 in 1986, it became illegal to dispose of hazardous materials in household trash, according to city spokesman Tony Harris. Toxic materials could contaminate landfills where trash is deposited and eventually seep into the public water supply, he said.

The parking lot at Narbonne High School was transformed into a huge collection site on Saturday. About 100 workers, including city refuse crews, employees of the city’s toxic-waste consulting firm and volunteers, were dressed in protective garb and glasses to collect the materials. Scores of bags of kitty litter were on hand to absorb spills.

Among the participants was Lance Coffey of San Pedro, who dropped off a 55-gallon container of used motor oil collected by his neighborhood. “I have a truck, so I got to make the delivery,” he said cheerfully.

Robert Bisbee of Harbor City got rid of a 10-year accumulation of paint, used motor oil and garden insecticides Saturday and said he was relieved to dispose of it in a safe and legal way. “I’m getting ready to move, so when I heard about this event I cleaned out everything,” he said.

The Harbor City roundup was the fifth of eight planned by the city this year. At the first four, more than 5,000 households disposed of 13,000 gallons of paint, 9,000 gallons of motor oil and 500 batteries, Harris said. Usable paint is recycled for graffiti removal programs, and motor oil and battery parts also can be recycled, he said.

Poisonous and other nonrecyclable materials are sent to licensed toxic-disposal sites in Santa Barbara and Kern counties, according to Jim Grant of Safety Specialists Inc., the firm the city hired to help conduct the roundups and dispose of toxic materials.

Three more roundups will be held in other areas of Los Angeles. Then the Los Angeles City Council will decide whether to continue the pilot program or set up permanent sites, Harris said.