ND Department of Agriculture Press Releases

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE APRIL 20, 2009

HELP AVAILABLE FOR DEALING WITH FLOOD-DAMAGED PESTICIDES

BISMARCK – The North Dakota Department of Agriculture (NDDA) has materials and information to help agricultural producers, pesticide dealers and applicators deal with flood-and weather-damaged pesticides.

“Anyone who has pesticides that were damaged or compromised by this year’s winter conditions and flooding should call us for assistance,” Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring said Monday. “These damaged chemicals pose a significant hazard to rural and municipal water supplies and to human safety.”

NDDA’s toll-free number is (800) 242-7535.

Goehring said NDDA has plastic bag containers for damaged pesticides, as well as information on the identification, handling and storage of damaged pesticides. There is no charge for the assistance.

“The important thing is to have these chemicals safety stored away until this July, when they can be brought to a Project Safe Send collection,” Goehring said. “From there, they will be taken out of state for final incineration.”

NDDA has 16 Project Safe Send collections planned for July.

Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and rodenticides.

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MEDIA: For more information, please call Ted Quanrud at (701) 328-2233 or tquanrud@nd.gov or Patrice Lahlum at (701) 239-7210 or plahlum@nd.gov.