Clean Sweep Programs - US Environmental Protection Agency

Summary of Illinois Waste Pesticide Disposal ProgramPilot programs in 1990 and 1991 collected about 19,500 pounds of pesticides from 147 participantsin two counties. Agricultural Clean Sweep programs were conducted several years later, yielding over27,000 pounds in 1994 and nearly four times that amount in 1995. In 1998 Illinois determined that therewas a need to collect from the state’s approximately 90 structural pest control operators (PCOs). Threecollection sites were identified for a 1998 program and both members and non-members of the Illinois PestControl Association were notified of the program. Interagency collaboration was achieved, and theDepartment of Transportation granted amnesty to enable PCOs to legally deliver tagged and untaggedproducts. Only 11 of the PCOs who were notified did not participate, and Illinois stated that thosecompanies ran the risk of being designated EPA Hazardous Waste Storage Facilities. Department ofAgriculture staff contacted those PCOs that did not participate to see if they had disposal options or neededassistance.In 1999 the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) conducted three, single-day collections atthree separate locations. These efforts, funded by the U.S. EPA and the IDOA, collected over 55,500pounds of pesticides from 185 participants from ten counties.MSE Environmental, Inc. conducted the collections as the hazardous waste contractor. Theyconducted each collection very efficiently and experienced no accidents or spills at any of the threecollection locations. All products collected during the August 17 pesticide Clean Sweep program wereincinerated at the ENSCO, Inc. facility located in El Dorado, Arkansas. Most of the pesticides from theAugust 18 event (13,357 out of 14,392 pounds) were also incinerated at this facility. Of the remainingmaterial, 505 pounds were landfilled and 530 pounds underwent wastewater treatment. The last collectionheld on August 19 resulted in the incineration of 26,747 pounds of product while only 4 pounds of productwere landfilled.In 2000, the IDOA along with the Illinois Department of Public Health conducted an agricultural/structural pesticide clean sweep program for DeKalb, Ogle and Lee counties. This single-day collectionwas funded by the U.S. EPA and IDOA. Local sponsors included each county’s Farm Bureau office,University of Illinois Extension office and Soil and Water Conservation District. The collection successfullycollected a total of 15,580 pounds of product from 64 participants. Onyx Environmental Services was thecontractor for this collection. No accidents or spills occurred during the collection. The majority of allchemicals collected were scheduled to be incinerated.All chemicals collected during the 1999 and 2000 programs were registered with the IDOA prior tothe actual collection date. By pre-registering the products, the IDOA was able to determine which productswere eligible for collection. Each participant received a response letter indicating the time and date of thecollection along with a listing of their chemicals which were to be brought to the collection for disposal. Themajority of products turned away from the collections were not pesticides. These items included paints,paint thinners, household cleaners, motor oil, crop oil, surfactants, and foaming agents. Products containing2,4,5-T were also not collected due to the unavailability of a disposal site.