Utah Department of Agriculture and Food to collect pesticides for public safety

Driven by concerns for public safety, the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food will be hosting a waste pesticide collection in Logan on Wednesday.

For the first time in eight years, UDAF has partnered with the Utah Department of Transportation and the Clean Harbors Environmental Services to collect old, harmful pesticides and dispose of them in a safe manner. 

According to UDAF, old pesticides can become harmful to humans, livestock and pets if they contaminate soil or water. The collection and proper disposal of unwanted or unusable pesticides is a means of protecting the environment and people.

“We want to try to prevent those leftover pesticides that have expired, or have no label, from damaging the land or harming people,” said Henry Nahalewski, the UDAF Pesticide Program manager. “We want to collect it and destroy it properly to keep the public safe.”

“It all comes down to safety,” said Thomas Bailey, a supervisor from the Blacksmith Fork Conservation District. “We have to make sure that bad pesticides don’t fall into the hands of the wrong people, like kids or someone causing trouble.”  

The collection event will be the first in a series of three and will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Logan’s UDOT shed. Those wishing to drop off an old or unusable pesticide must first register on the UDAF website. However, pesticides will be disposed of free of charge.

Nahalewski has been lobbying for the funding and partnerships that made the event possible this year, and he is hoping to make the pesticide collection a more regular occurrence. He was not sure how many operators had registered to drop off pesticides but guessed the number to be nearly 50. Nahalewski believes that there will be a wide range of pesticide volumes collected, and he is excited about the event. 

“This will help farmers, businesses, and our environment,” Nahalewski said. 

“Proper disposal of unusable pesticides protects human health, property value and the environment,” said UDAF Commissioner Kerry Gibson. “The longer a pesticide is held in storage, the greater the risk of unintentional environmental damage.”