Unwanted pesticide disposal sites for November set in Wilburton, Kingfisher

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Oklahoma agricultural producers, commercial and noncommercial applicators, as well as pesticide dealers, can get rid of unwanted pesticides in two different locations in November, thanks to the Oklahoma Unwanted Pesticide Disposal Program.

Collection services will take place Nov. 19 in Wilburton at the City of Wilburton Recycling Center, and Nov. 21 at the Kingfisher County Fairgrounds in Kingfisher. Both collection times will be from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The program began in 2006 and since that time has collected and properly disposed of nearly 710,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides.

The program is funded by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with additional support from the Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association and the Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service, said Ryan Williams, ODAFF Consumer Protection Services.

“The intent of these collection services is to reduce potential health and environmental concerns by removing unwanted pesticides from storage,” Williams said. “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 become 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.

Charles Luper, Oklahoma State University Cooperative Extension associate, said in addition to commercial and agricultural-related pesticides, they also will accept those pesticides used by homeowners.

“Liquid pesticides weigh about 10 pounds per gallon and there’s no cost for the first 2,500 pounds of pesticides brought in by individual participants,” Luper said. “However, there will be a charge assessed to those bringing in more than 2,500 pounds of pesticides. Please keep in mind that we will not be able to accept paint, batteries or oil.”

Applicators and agricultural producers are not required to preregister for this event. Dealers are asked to preregister with Clean Harbors through the OSU Pesticide Safety Education Program at http://pested.okstate.edu/html/unwanted.html.

“Dealers are asked to preregister because of the potential for large quantities of pesticides coming from multiple dealers or multiple locations,” Luper said. “This will help Clean Harbors know what will be needed on site to effectively handle collection amounts.”

For more information please visit the OSU Pesticide Safety Education Program site, or contact Luper at 405-744-5808 or Williams at 405-522-5993.