Operation Cleansweep for Pesticides1
This fact sheet explains the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Operation Cleansweep for Pesticides.
Operation Cleansweep is a mobile collection program that provides agricultural producers, nursery and golf course operators, and pest control services a safe and economical method of disposing of cancelled, suspended and unusable pesticides. Proper disposal can be expensive and place a regulatory burden on small agricultural producers and companies. Operation Cleansweep offers an opportunity to avoid these barriers and to promote safe and environmentally sound pesticide use, handling and disposal. Operation Cleansweep was initiated in 1995 with original intent of collecting lead arsenate, a widely used pesticide in Florida citrus production, but banned for use by the EPA in 1978. During 1995, Operation Cleansweep collected more than 70,000 pounds of lead arsenate. Statewide surveys have identified substantial quantities of cancelled, suspended and unusable pesticides stored throughout Florida. Some of these materials have been in confinement for many years and are in containers unsuitable for proper storage. Some, such as chlordane and DDT, are no longer allowed to be used.
Operation Cleansweep provides for a contractor to come directly to a farm or pesticide application business for pickup and disposal of pesticides when there is a sufficient quantity in a defined area. There is no cost charged to those who participate in the program.
For more information, contact Robin Waddell (waddelr@doacs.state.fl.us) at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services by calling 386-418-5525.
Cleansweep Partners and Representatives
Florida Peanut Producers Association
Florida Turfgrass Association
Florida Farm Bureau
Florida Fertilizer and Agrichemical Association
Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association
Florida Landscape Maintenance Association
Florida Soybean Producers Association
Certified Pest Control Operators
Florida Pest Management Association
Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association
Florida Tomato Committee
Florida Forestry Association
IFAS/University of Florida
Florida Citrus Mutual
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services
Florida Department of Environmental Protection
Additional Information
Cleansweep Website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/waste/categories/cleansweep-pesticides/
Footnotes
This document is PI-48, one of a series of the Agronomy Department, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL. Original publication date, June 2005. Reviewed July 2009. Visit the EDIS Web site at http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu.
Frederick M. Fishel, associate professor, Agronomy Department, and director, Pesticide Information Office, Florida Cooperative Extension Service, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
The Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) is an Equal
Opportunity Institution authorized to provide research, educational
information and other services only to individuals and institutions
that function with non-discrimination with respect to race, creed,
color, religion, age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, marital
status, national origin, political opinions or affiliations.
For more information on obtaining other extension publications,
contact your county Cooperative Extension service.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service,
University of Florida, IFAS, Florida A. & M. University Cooperative
Extension Program, and Boards of County Commissioners Cooperating. Millie Ferrer-Chancy,
Interim Dean.
