Pesticide disposal day set

By DAN KEGLEY/Staff

You’ve wondered since spring what to do with that half-bottle of out-of-date weed killer you found in the garage, and that can of old bee spray that’s rusted on the bottom.
Environmentalists thank you for not throwing them in the trash, which would have been against the law. And for your trouble comes this reward from The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) and the Virginia Pesticide Control Board.
If you live in Smyth and Washington counties, take those old weed and insect killers to Smyth Farm Bureau, 202 West Main St., Chilhowie, between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 16.
In Wythe County, the pick-up will happen Sept. 17 at the Waste Transfer Station
169 Kents Lane, Wytheville.
A company will take unwanted, outdated and banned pesticides and incinerate them, said Walter Robinson, extension agent with the Smyth County office of Virginia Cooperative Extension Service, one of the partners in the cooperative program of the Virginia’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, its Pesticide Control Board, its Department of Environmental Quality, and the Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services. 
VDACS’ pesticide services office provides this disposal service at no cost to participants.  The program is funded through pesticide product registration fees collected by OPS.
Pre-registration is encouraged and participants may call the Smyth Extension office at 783-5175 or VDACS’ Office of Pesticide Services at (804) 371-8598. While not mandatory, pre-registration will help the disposal company arrange safe transportation of the collected chemicals.
“Some chemicals aren’t compatible,” Robinson said. “We don’t want anything to blow up.”
At the pick-up sites, a little bit of paper work will be needed from each participant, and the forms will be available, as will help anyone might need in filling it out, at the sites, Robinson said. The form, also available at http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/pesticides/pdffiles/disposalregistration.pdf, will create a record of what chemicals have been brought for disposal.
Participants will not need to bring any information to fill out the form, Robinson said.
Robinson said it is important to realize this is not a general hazardous materials pickup, but targets only pesticides. Paint, wood preservers and other non-pesticide materials cannot be accepted.