Agricultural chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers, can pose a significant
threat to water quality. The McKenzie River is the sole source of drinking water for more than
200,000 people in Eugene, Oregon and the Middle Fork Willamette River provides drinking
water to an additional 60,000 people in the Springfield area. Both watersheds provide habitat for
Endangered Species Act (ESA)-listed fish, with the McKenzie River having one of the last
populations of native bull trout in the Northwest. A recent survey of over 700 growers in the
Upper Willamette Basin found that thousands of gallons of obsolete agricultural chemicals
remained on farms. To address the risk from old agricultural chemicals near these critical
resources, EWEB applied for and received a grant from the Governor's Fund for the
Environment to conduct an agricultural chemical collection program in the McKenzie and
Middle Fork Willamette watersheds. The purpose of this program was to allow growers to
dispose of old pesticides and other chemicals in order to protect people, pets, livestock, and
wildlife from accidental exposure and to remove a threat to domestic wells and critical drinking
water resources. The program was free, had no limit to the amount of chemicals that growers
could bring in for collection events, and provided assistance identifying and packaging materials
for safe transport. EWEB and several partners conducted two rounds of collection events at the
county waste management facility and collected over 44 tons of chemicals. Includes 12 references, table, figure.
| Edition : | Vol. - No. |
| File Size : | 1
file
, 360 KB |
| Note : | This product is unavailable in Ukraine, Russia, Belarus |
| Number of Pages : | 12 |
| Published : | 11/01/2007 |
