Farmers complimented on safe chemical storage

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 628, 19 March 1996, Page 9

Farmers complimented on safe chemical storage

A high degree of responsibility among farmers in the storage of dangerous chemicals has come to light around the region, through the regional council's chemical collection scheme. Manawatu-Wanganui regional councillor, Chris Lester, launched his council's agricultural chemical collection for the Ruapehu district last week. The Regional Council will be collecting unwanted farm chemicals from farms in the Ruapehu district during April. The region-wide chemical collection has been operating for over 12 months and to date over 46 tonnes of unwanted agricultural chemicals have been collected from over 1000 farms. "Many of these chemicals, often over 30 years old and still in their original packaging are a credit to farmers. Many farmers have very carefully stored them, and this shows a practical example of environmental responsibility that needs to be recognised," said Councillor Lester. "Many farmers want to do the right thing, but there is little a farmer can do with older chemicals such as DDT. These chemicals can only safely be disposed of by high temperature incineration. There is no such facility in New Zealand," said Mr Lester. The Regional Council' s collector will collect unwanted and unsafe agricultural chemicals directly off the farm and dispose of them at no cost to the farmer. The collection is confidential and farmers must register for the collection by replying on the Council's reply-paid flyers which have been delivered to every farmer in the district.