Auburn, Dec. 6---Thousands of ecological time bombs are ticking away in storage sheds and barns throughout Alabama – discarded pesticide containers rusting with age and leaking toxic chemicals that ultimately may threaten the environment.

Disposing of these discarded products isn’t easy. By law, they must be turned over to certified experts specializing in toxic waste disposal. Yet, in many cases, many homeowners and farmers, either out of ignorance or a desire simply to be rid of them, dispose of these products in ways that may have serious long-term effects on the environment.

"Without the right kind of pesticide education, many people would just bury these things – just dig a hole and dump these chemicals," says Dr. Jeff Clary, coordinator of the Lee County Cooperative Extension Office.

"Even today, people just keep these old containers in tool and storage sheds, and when rain washes in after a heavy downpour, many chemicals are leached out and eventually wash into surface and groundwater," he adds.

As Clary sees it, one of the biggest challenges involved in pesticide disposal involves alerting homeowners and farmers about the serious environmental risks associated with these discarded containers and putting them in touch with qualified people who can dispose of these materials safely.

With this in mind, the Lee and Macon County Extension offices, working with several other public and private partners, sponsored Pesticide Clean Day in the Lee County Extension Office parking lot in Opelika, Dec. 5.

"Clean Day enables farmers and homeowners to bring discarded pesticides to a central location so they can be safely disposed of by certified handlers," says Lee County Extension Agent Chuck Browne, who, along with Clary and several other Lee and Macon County Extension agents, helped organize the event.

As organizers see it, clean days provide homeowners and farmers a strong incentive to address environmental issues that otherwise would be left to sit on shelves for years – or even worse.

"If we didn’t do something about this, many farmers and homeowners generally would follow one of two alternatives," says Bobby "Smokey" Spears, one of several Lee County Extension agents who helped organize the event. "One, they would deposit it in a landfill, which really bad, or, two, they would dig a whole in the ‘back forty,’ which is just as bad."

"If this Pesticide Clean Day accomplishes one thing, it is to provide these people with a safe way to dispose of these materials," he adds.

Organizers expected more than 15,000 pounds of pesticides to be consigned by the end of the day.

"We had originally planned to receive about 10,000 pounds of pesticides, but after we advertised Clean Day on the radio, we ended up with 11,000 pounds," Clary says.

Once the material is collected, it is packed in specialized containers and shipped to Arkansas for disposal by an EPA-certified incinerator.

This marks the seventh clean day held in Alabama in 2001. Similar events also have been sponsored in Headland, Opp, Birmingham, Clanton, Russellville and Thornton.

Made possible by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the program is administered through the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries.

The Clean Day was sponsored by the Lee and Macon county Extension offices in conjunction with the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and Legacy’s Partners in Environmental Education.