National & World Ag News Headlines N.D. Collects Record Amount of Waste Pesticide USAgNet - 07/30/2010 A record amount of unusable pesticides -- 215,594 pounds -- were collected and shipped out of North Dakota through Project Safe Send in 2010. "More than 400 people brought in more than 100 tons of unusable pesticides to the 12 Project Safe collections sites earlier this month," said Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring. "Once again, this response indicates a continuing need for this program." The previous record of 215,521 pounds was set in 2008, the year that also had the greatest program participation, 535 people. "More than 7,000 people have used Project Safe Send since 1992 to get rid of their unusable pesticides, more than two and a half million pounds," Goehring said. "The program has also enjoyed strong, bipartisan support in the Legislature." Project Safe Send collections were conducted during July in Adams, Ashley, Cando, Carrington, Crosby, Larimore, Minot, New England, Underwood, Valley City, Wahpeton and Watford City. The Larimore collection gathered the most chemicals -- 61,887 pounds -- and was second in participation with 53, while Valley City had the most participants -- 79 -- and was second in total pounds collected with 45,878. (A listing of collection sites and totals follows this release). Long-banned products, such as DDT, arsenic and mercury compounds, were among the chemicals brought in this year. One of the more unusual items was an old cream can filled with arsenic-based grasshopper killer. Veolia Environmental Services, Blaine, MN, collected, repackaged and transported the waste chemicals to out-of-state incinerators. Copyright © 2010 - USAgNet.com. All Rights Reserved.