Welcome to Skagit County

May 13th, 2010

Sign up by May 27 for free pesticide disposal near Sedro-Woolley Disposal event set for June 29

OLYMPIA - The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) is sponsoring a regional pesticide disposal event June 29 at a site near Sedro-Woolley, east of Mount Vernon. The deadline to sign up for the free disposal event is May 27, allowing WSDA time to respond to any requested farm site assistance and plan for an efficient, safe collection event.

It has been nearly two years since WSDA sponsored a pesticide collection event at Sedro-Woolley. Since this is a regional event, customers do not have to reside or have a business in Skagit County to participate.

WSDA is encouraging farmers, businesses, residents and landowners to inspect their storage sheds, barns, shops and garages and look for agricultural and commercial-grade pesticide products that are no longer needed or wanted. Participants turned over 167,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides to WSDA last year.

"Our trained experts are ready to assume all the liability for properly disposing of your unwanted pesticides," said Joe Hoffman, WSDA's pesticide disposal coordinator. "If you need it, our staff will go to your storage site to help you with your unusable pesticides and prepare them for delivery. We want this program to be as easy to use as possible."

Regional disposal collection events completed this spring include Quincy, Mattawa, Yakima and Othello. The next regional events before Sedro-Woolley will be in Okanogan May 25 and in Wenatchee on May 26.

Agricultural and commercial-grade pesticide products accepted for disposal include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides and most chemicals that kill, repel or prevent unwanted pests. Customers transport unwanted pesticides to the local collection site where WSDA takes possession. A hazardous waste company works with WSDA at the collection site to segregate and package the pesticides for safe, legal transportation and disposal.

Through this program, more than 2.3 million pounds of waste pesticide products have been collected and properly disposed of since 1988.

Customers will receive supplies necessary to protect broken or leaky containers to ensure safe transportation to the collection site, as well as directions to the site, hours of operation and transportation documents. Customer names do not appear on any retained documents. To sign up, call (360) 902-2056, (877) 301-4555 (toll free) or send an e-mail to wastepesticide@agr.wa.gov.

Empty pesticide containers, fertilizers, motor oil and household hazardous waste are not accepted for disposal by WSDA's program. Contact your local solid waste program for assistance with these other items.

For more information, visit the WSDA Web site at agr.wa.gov and click on "Pesticides and Fertilizers."

Contact: Mike Louisell (360) 902-1813