On Monday, October 26, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) is sponsoring free chemical collection at Williamson County Grain, Inc. in Taylor. During this time, TCEQ will be offering proper disposal for several types of agricultural and automotive chemicals to the public free of charge.
This free collection opportunity is open to all Texas residents who currently have banned or unwanted agricultural chemicals or who apply pesticides to agricultural products. “Don’t Dump on Texas” does not, however, accept waste from chemical dealers, school labs, applicators regulated by the Texas Structural Pest Control Service, or businesses that change oil and oil filters for a fee.
The complete list of items accepted for disposal is as follows: pesticide, herbicide, insecticide, fungicide, rodenticide, nematicide, bactericides, growth regulators, harvest aid chemicals, properly rinsed plastic pesticide containers, oil, oil filters, grease, gasoline, diesel fuel, transmission fluid, brake fluid, power steering fluid, anti-freeze, lead-acid batteries, paint, florescent light bulbs, and pesticides used on livestock.
TCEQ will not be accepting the following items: tires, radioactive materials, explosives, fertilizer or nutrient materials that are neither hazardous nor contain pesticide admixtures, propane or butane gas cylinders larger than 20 gallons, biomedical waste, or ammunition.
Williamson County Grain, Inc. is located at 504 E. Walnut Street in Taylor. For more information about collections contact Bob Whitney, CEA at 512-943-3300 or rwhitney@ag.tamu.edu, or Jared Ripple, EA-IPM at jwripple@ag.tamu.edu. Also, to learn more about how to safely transport and handle waste materials in general, call the TCEQ at 512-239-3143 or visit www.tceq.state.tx/assistance.AgWaste/agwaste.html.