IDOA SCHEDULES CLEAN SWEEP COLLECTION FOR WEST-CENTRAL ILLINOIS

SPRINGFIELD, IL. - Residents of ten Illinois counties can dispose of unwanted agrichemicals for free this year through the Illinois Department of Agriculture's (IDOA) agricultural pesticide "Clean Sweep" program.

A "Clean Sweep" collection has been scheduled in late summer for Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Greene, Hancock, McDonough, Morgan, Pike, Schuyler, and Scott counties, the Department announced today.  The collection, which rotates among Illinois counties, is open to farmers, retired farmers, nursery owners, private pesticide applicators, structural pest control applicators and landowners who inherited unwanted agricultural pesticides with their property.  The state of Illinois, not the program participant, will assume liability for the proper disposal of all materials collected

"If individuals were to properly dispose of agrichemicals on their own, the cost would be expensive," said Doug Owens, Bureau Chief of Environmental Programs.  "The Department is able to provide this invaluable service free of charge thanks to a grant obtained from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."

Participants must register the products they plan to dispose of by July 18.  Registration is required to give the waste disposal contractor time to prepare for the different kinds of materials that will need to be handled.  Forms can be obtained either by calling the Illinois Department of Agriculture's Pesticide Hotline at 1-800-641-3934 or by visiting one of the program sponsors listed below.  Completed forms should be mailed or faxed to the Illinois Department of Agriculture.  The mailing address is:  Clean Sweep Program, Illinois Department of Agriculture, State Fairgrounds, P.O. Box 19281, Springfield, IL, 62794-9281.  The fax number is (217) 524-4882.  Participants then will be sent a reservation card indicating the date, time and location of their collection. 

The "Clean Sweep" program began in 1990 in Illinois.  Since the inception of the program, the Department has held 48 collection events through the state and collected 559,823 pounds of material from 2,028 participants.