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Pesticide disposal offered in Canadian, Seminole and Choctaw counties
Oklahoma Oklahoma homeowners, agricultural producers, greenhouse and nursery operators, certified applicators and pesticide dealers can get rid of unwanted pesticides at three locations in March. Collection times are 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at all locations: March 2 at Helena Chemical in El Reno; March 4 at Valley Ranch Equipment in Wewoka and March 9 at Red River Co-op in Hugo. The collections will take only pesticides; no other types of hazardous waste such as oil, paint or antifreeze will be accepted. All pesticides will be taken, no matter the size. "No questions will be asked of participants," said Charles Luper, Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service associate with the Oklahoma State University Pesticide Safety Education Program. Luper said the intent of the collection service is not to prosecute participants for illegal management practices but to reduce potential health and environmental concerns by removing unwanted pesticides from storage. "We've had 21 pesticide collections since 2007, with a total of 469,778 pounds of pesticide material collected," he said. The program is funded by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with additional support from the Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association and the OSU Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources. ODAFF has contracted with Clean Harbors, a licensed hazardous waste company, to collect and properly dispose of waste pesticides in Oklahoma. "Unwanted pesticides are those that are unusable as originally intended for a variety of reasons, including leftover pesticides, pesticides that are no longer registered in Oklahoma and pesticides that no longer have labels or are no longer identifiable," Luper said. There is no cost for the first 2,500 pounds of pesticides brought in by a participant. Anything more than 2,500 pounds will be charged to the participant at the rate of $1 per pound for all pesticides except those that are mercury-based. The rate for mercury-based pesticides is $2.22 per pound for disposal. "Clean Harbors will accept payment in the form of a check or credit card at the disposal site," Luper said. "Cash payments will not be accepted." Homeowners, agricultural producers, applicators and greenhouse operators are not required to pre-register. Pesticide dealers are asked to pre-register with Clean Harbors through the OSU Pesticide Safety Education Program at http://pested.okstate.edu/unwanted.htm.
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