Butler County is one of 21 Pennsylvania counties to be included in the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's 2004 Chemsweep program.

This successful program, conducted annually in selected areas, provides an opportunity for all citizens with a means to dispose of canceled, suspended, or unwanted pesticides.

Each year, pesticide products are canceled by the manufacturer or phased out by operations, leaving growers and applicators with quantities of potentially dangerous and toxic materials.

In addition, many commercial establishments, farmers, and homeowners have unwanted and/or unusable pesticides. Due to the nature of these potentially hazardous materials, the options for management of these materials are often limited.

The high cost of disposal prohibits many users from hiring professionals to dispose of the materials and also postpones disposal decisions until a more cost-effective method becomes available.

The waste pesticides may then become a safety hazard and environmental liability through long-term storage in barns, garages or other areas in and around the home.

Environmental liability and health and safety issues are the primary concerns. By participating in this program, a user can legally dispose of waste pesticides at no cost.

Approximately 90 percent of the waste pesticides collected are burned in EPA-approved incinerators. The remaining pesticides are either offered for recycling or are treated and placed in hazardous waste landfills permitted by EPA.

The program is not limited to certified applicators. Any Pennsylvania citizen can participate. In participating counties, growers of any agricultural commodity would be eligible, including mushroom growers, nurseries, greenhouses, Christmas tree growers and farmers of all types.

In addition, commercial pesticide businesses, retired farmers and homeowners are encouraged to participate.

Any pesticide or related product will be accepted in this program. However, dioxin precursors such as silvex, 2,4,5-T and pentachlorophenol will only be accepted if these products are packaged in Labpack quantities and meet the definition of "universal waste."

Unidentified materials will be accepted only after being identified as a pesticide by the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's pesticide laboratory. PDA's agronomic product inspectors will sample unknown products for identification purposes at no cost.

Participation in Chemsweep is free for the first 2,000 pounds. Participants with waste pesticides exceeding 2,000 pounds will be responsible for the cost of those pesticides exceeding the 2,000 pound limit and will be direct billed by the PDA contractor. They will be billed at the price charged to PDA by the contractor, which is significantly less than normal hazardous waste costs.

If you are interested in participating in the Chemsweep program, contact the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture's Region 4 office at 724-443-1585, the Butler County Extension office at 724-287-4761 or Penn State's Pesticide Education Web site at www.pested.psu.edu/pdaprog/. List all the pesticides to be disposed of and return the form to the PDA regional office for verification prior to collection.

Once you have received verification of the pesticides you wish to dispose of, you will either be instructed to deliver your unwanted pesticides to a central collection site or the pesticides will be collected directly from your storage location by the hazardous waste disposal company under contract to PDA. Once these products have been delivered or collected, the PDA contractor assumes all future liability for the products.