Oklahoma agricultural pesticide disposal set for April 22

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Oklahoma agricultural producers, commercial and non-commercial applicators and pesticide dealers can get rid of unwanted pesticides on April 22, courtesy of the Oklahoma Unwanted Pesticide Disposal Program.

Collection services will take place 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the McClain County Fairgrounds in Purcell.

The program is funded by the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, with additional support from the Oklahoma Agribusiness Retailers Association and Oklahoma State University’s Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.

ODAFF has contracted with Stericycle, a licensed hazardous waste company, to collect and properly dispose of waste pesticides in Oklahoma. Approximately 750,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides have been collected and disposed of since the program began in 2006.

“The intent of the April 22 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,” said Ryan Williams of ODAFF Consumer Protection Services.

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.

“There is no cost for the first 2,500 pounds of pesticides brought in by a participant,” said Charles Luper, OSU Cooperative Extension pesticide safety education associate. “Liquid pesticides weigh approximately 10 pounds per gallon.”

Applicators and agricultural producers are not required to pre-register. Dealers are asked to pre-register online at http://pested.okstate.edu/html/unwanted.html through the OSU Pesticide Safety Education Program.

“Dealers are asked to pre-register because of the potential for large quantities of pesticides coming from multiple dealers or multiple locations,” Luper said. “Pre-registration will help Stericycle know what will be needed on-site to effectively handle collection amounts.”

For additional information, visit the OSU Pesticide Safety Education Program site online or contact Luper by email at charles.luper@okstate.edu or by phone at 405-744-5808, or Williams by email at ryan.williams@ag.ok.gov or by phone at 405-522-5993.