Disposal of waste pesticides offered at Lee County site April 4

COLUMBIA - The South Carolina Department of Agriculture is offering South Carolina residents the opportunity to safely dispose of outdated, unusable or unwanted pesticides.

The pesticide and chemical program is open to all private, commercial and non-commercial pesticide applicators in the state, as well as homeowners. SCDA staff will be on site to monitor pesticide collection and disposal and will have final authority on acceptance of products.

The site in the tri-county area accepting pesticides will be Nutrien Ag Solutions, 559 Wisacky Highway, Bishopville, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, April 4.

Additional details include:

- Quantities will be limited to 2,500 pounds of solid and 300 gallons of liquid at no charge;

- Acceptable products include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides and similar products used in agriculture production or around the home;

- Prohibited items include empty pesticide containers, rinsate, infectious, biological or radioactive materials, explosives, appliances, paint and compressed gas cylinders (metal cylinder with a valve);

- A hazardous material company will be on site to properly dispose of the materials collected;

- Materials should be transported to the collection event in sturdy boxes with newspaper stuffed between the containers to prevent spills;

- Leave items in the original containers;

- Workers will be on hand to unload vehicles, and residents will be asked to stay in the car;

- Collection events may be canceled due to inclement weather. The cancellation will be posted on SCDA's website, agriculture.sc.gov. Possible makeup dates will be announced at a later date.

For additional information, contact SCDA's John Stokes at (803) 737-9696 or jstokes@scda.sc.gov.