10/08/07 Record Pesticide Disposal

Record Pesticide Disposal. I'm Greg Martin with today's Fruit Grower Report. It looked like a scene out of a science fiction movie with teams of people in hazmat suits but it was nothing quite so dramatic. Actually it was a chance to clean up your property of toxic pesticides. Mike Louisell, Public Information Officer with the Washington State Department of Agriculture says this event was a milestone. LOUISELL: We wanted to celebrate and recognize the person who brought in the 2 millionth pound of pesticide and it was a 570 pound shipment that was brought in from Broetje Orchards. Jorge Gomez, one of their pesticide foremen brought it in and was pleased to get the award. The program is a way for farming operations to get rid of any old or unwanted pesticides. LOUISELL: This could include pesticides that they no longer need because maybe they're no longer in the farming business or perhaps it's a merger of two farms in the past several years and they've decided to responsibly dispose of pesticides by bringing it to this free collection event that the Washington State Department of Agriculture sponsors. The event in Pasco brought in over 28-thousand pounds of unwanted pesticides. Louisell says that was a good event. LOUSIELL: To put that in perspective, in all of last year the Department of Agriculture hosted 13 regional events last year that brought in 160-thousand pounds of pesticides. For more information on the pesticide disposal program, contact the Washington State Department of Agriculture. That's today's Fruit Grower Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.