HAVERHILL — It may have rained on the parade, but at one point, the parade of cars that lined up for Saturday’s fourth annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection Event reached from the Dow Chemical plant to the U.S. 52/ County Road 1A interchange.

Sponsored by the Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District, Dow Chemical and Americas Styrenics, the event drew 276 participants, more than double the 128 cars that went through the collection line last year.

“We had cars lined up at 8:15 in the morning, so we started at 8:45 a.m. (instead of the planned 9 a.m.),” Lawrence-Scioto Solid Waste Management District Director Dan Palmer said. Officials had worried beforehand that forecasted heavy rains would keep people away. It didn’t, leaving Palmer and others pleased but surprised. “I’m trying to figure out what to attribute this to,” he said.

Troy Dehoff, site manager of Dow Chemical, said at least one vehicle that made its way through the collection line was a multiple-household effort: a Portsmouth man brought a truck load of household hazardous refuse for his neighbors.

“He rolled down his window and said I’m not trying to pull anything, I promised my neighbors if they put their stuff outside I’d pick it up and bring it.’ And he was soaking wet. I thought what a great example of things working right. He went out of the way for his neighbors,” Dehoff said.

This year’s event saw large increases not only in the number of people participating but in the amounts of some items brought for disposal. Palmer said 8,000 pounds of paint-related products were collected. That’s twice the amount of paint products turned in last year. The amount of latex paint collected was nearly three times what was collected last year: 13,000 pounds versus 5,000 pounds.

This was the first year the event accepted pharmaceuticals. The final tally shows 5 lbs. of aerosols; 20 lbs. of liquid medicines; 120 lbs. of medicines; 5 lbs. of unused needles were collected.

“This is fantastic,” Palmer said. He thanked Lawrence County Sheriff Jeff Lawless for providing much needed assistance in organizing the medicine collection.

If word is spreading about the waste collection event, the news is not stopping at the Lawrence-Scioto borders. SWMD enforcement officer Steve Hileman had to turn away one man who had come from Gallia County with a pickup truck loaded with automobile tires and electronics. The event was open only to Lawrence and Scioto residents.

This year’s event saw large increases not only in the number of people participating but in the amounts of some items brought for disposal.

Palmer said 8,000 pounds of paint-related was collected. That’s twice the amount of paint products turned in last year. The amount of latex paint collected was nearly three times what was collected last year: 13,000 pounds versus 5,000 pounds.

This was the first year the event accepted pharmaceuticals. The final tally shows 5 lbs. of aerosols; 20 lbs. of liquid medicines; 120 lbs. of medicines; 5 lbs. of unused needles were collected.

“This is fantastic,” Palmer said.