| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Kyle Wasson |
| April 29, 2004 | (406) 444-3730 TTY (406) 444-4687 |
(RADIO EDITORS: An audio clip to accompany this article is available here.)
Pesticides Disposal Program Schedules NW Montana
HELENA, Mont. — The Montana Department of Agriculture will sponsor its 11th annual waste pesticide collection during the week of June 7 in Ronan, Plains and Missoula.
The service offers businesses and individuals the opportunity to dispose of unusable or unwanted pesticides in a safe, inexpensive and convenient way. Participants should register with the Montana Department of Agriculture by May 21, 2004.
Participation is open statewide to all Montana residents including agricultural producers, pesticide applicators, businesses and homeowners.
The 2003 Montana Legislature reauthorized and extended the program indefinitely, assuring that it will continue well into the future, says Ralph Peck, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
"Long-term storage of old pesticides can result in leakage or spills, which may expose people, pets and livestock to unnecessary health risks and result in expensive clean-up," Peck says. "Anyone with unusable weed herbicides, insecticides or any other pesticides that are unwanted or unusable is encouraged to participate in this program."
Unusable pesticides are those with canceled registrations or products made unusable due to age, storage conditions, loss of the label, or other factors. The program cannot accept fertilizers, petroleum products, paint or other chemicals that are not pesticides. Unknown pesticides can generally be accepted, as can empty metal pesticide containers.
License fees paid by Montana's pesticide dealers and private, commercial and government pesticide applicators fund the majority of the costs for the collection program. Participants pay $1 per pound for the first 200 pounds, and 50 cents for each additional pound. Using other means, disposal costs can be up to 10 times more expensive.
Since 1994, the program has collected and disposed of more than 230,000 pounds of old and unusable pesticides in Montana.
For more information about the waste pesticide collection program and to register to participate, contact Kyle Wasson with the Montana Department of Agriculture at (406) 444-3730 or by e-mail at agr@mt.gov. Additional information and registration forms are available on the department's web site at http://www.agr.mt.gov/Pesticides and Fertalizers/PesticideDisposal.asp.
