From the Desk of Corrie Bowen, County Extension Agent – Wharton County

Just another reminder of the Agricultural Pesticide Waste Collection event that will be held in Wharton on Wednesday, November 28, 2018.  The collection will run from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Wharton County Fairgrounds, and is open to all TDA licensed agricultural Private Applicators in Wharton and surrounding counties.  I have fielded a few calls from commercial distributors asking if this event is open for commercial ag pesticide distributors.  I’m sorry, but it is open only to agricultural producers.

If you are bringing empty pesticide containers, please make certain that they are triple-rinsed before bringing them to the collection event.   This event is a joint effort between Agrilife Extension and Texas Department of Agriculture.  We are contracted with a company by the name of Stericycle.  Stericycle is permitted with TCEQ to collect and properly dispose of these unused pesticides.  USAg is also partnering with us to collect and disposed of the empty, triple-rinsed pesticide containers.  The Wharton County Youth Fair is also generously allowing the use of their fairgrounds facility to host this event.

This is the first Ag Pesticide Waste collection event in Texas since TCEQ stopped funding the Ag Waste Collections events in 2010.  Texas State Representative Phil Stephenson has presented a bill in the 2015,  2017, and 2017 special session Texas Legislature to get Ag Pesticide Waste Collection Events written into law.  Representative Stephenson has filed HB 191 for the 2019 Texas Legislative Session and will present the need for this event for the fourth time.  In the meantime, the need for a collection event has been echoed throughout the State, and as a result TDA has provided funding for the November 28, 2018 collection event in Wharton.  We are very fortunate to have been chosen to host the site for the first state sponsored collection activity is over 8 years.  If there are any left-over funds from the November 28^th collection event the plan is to use the funds to host another collection event in another region of Texas in 2019.