A spring CleanSweepNY event resulted in the collection of 93,633 pounds of chemicals from 112 participants in Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Niagara and Wyoming counties.

CleanSweepNY staff collected 66,327 pounds of pesticides, 3,005 pounds of chemicals used and stored by school districts, 12,431 pounds of paint, more than 5,000 mercury-containing devices, and 342 aerosol containers.

“CleanSweepNY helps keep unwanted pesticides and other chemicals out of our environment, communities, and municipal landfills.” said Basil Seggos, state Department of Environmental Conservation commissioner. “We are pleased that so many farmers, businesses, and institutions in the region participated in this opportunity to help build a toxic-free future for New York state.”

DEC schedules and organizes CleanSweepNY events in collaboration with the state Department of Transportation; the collection events were held at three Transportation Department facilities.

The Western New York CleanSweepNY collection event was the first event paid for with money provided by the state’s Environmental Protection Fund and the 27th since the program’s creation in 2002. More than 1.83 million pounds of chemicals and more than 908 pounds of elemental mercury have been collected and properly disposed. Six thousand plastic pesticide containers have been collected for recycling that may otherwise have been disposed of in landfills.