Waste Watcher: CalTrans Treats Urine Like Hazardous Waste

Each year, CalTrans spend millions cleaning the state’s highways. One item that CalTrans is finding more and more of – urine filled-bottles. Yes, apparently some idiotic drivers like doing number one in the number two lane and throwing bottles of their urine alongside highways.

According to a CalTrans Supervisor who was interviewed on CBS 13 – Sacramento (February 13, 2008), “‘The urine bottles have become a problem.’”

While most of us may find it disgusting, you would think that a pair of latex gloves and a garbage bag would solve the problem. But no… CalTrans goes the extra mile.

According to the same supervisor, “‘It's a hazardous substance. You don't want to touch somebody's throw-away, and our guys are trained not to pick 'em up…. We have an actual hazardous materials contractor who comes in, and I think it could get pretty expensive.’”

Really? Hazardous waste?

In fact, “California spends between 50[-million] and 60-million dollars a year picking up stuff left along the highways, and washed into storm drains…. [The CalTrans contractor] who handles those cleanups, estimates the average job costs the state several hundred to several thousand dollars.”

The litter may be unpleasant, but claiming it is hazardous seems a bit extreme. After all, janitors, nurses, garbage men, and parents deal with human waste daily, yet they seem to be able to get the job done without a hazardous materials suit. You would think that CalTrans could find a better way to address this problem, especially since the state barely has “a pot to piss in.”