The Drug Enforcement Administration’s National Prescription Drug Take Back Day has been scheduled for Saturday, April 26 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Fairfield Soil and Water Conservation District – in cooperation with Violet Township, Fairfield County Sheriff’s office and Lancaster-Fairfield County Recycling & Litter Prevention – will be participating in the event. The collection site will be the Violet Township Service Center located at 490 N. Center St., at the corner of Stemen Road and Center Street. We ask that you enter the event from the North Center Street entrance.
This national event marks an ongoing effort to rid the nation’s medicine cabinets of potentially dangerous drugs, particularly controlled substances. Our October collection netted 134 pounds of prescription drugs.
Until recently, unused drugs and/or expired medication(s) were commonly discarded in the trash (landfill) or flushed down the sink or toilet – leading to the potential chemical contamination of ground water and/or wastewater treatment plants, and causing harm to aquatic life and the human water supply. For additional disposal tips, please visit www.justice.gov/dea.
Prescription pills and capsules will be collected. No aerosols or inhalers will be accepted. Please black out the name or remove the label before bringing containers to the disposal site. If disposable items are of unknown origin, they may be dropped off with no questions asked.
Call the Fairfield SWCD office at 740-653-8154 or the Fairfield County Sheriff’s office at 740-652-7248 with any prescription drug questions.
This event is also accepting electronics. The following electronic items may be dropped off at no cost: computers, laptops, printers, cables, mouses, keyboards, discs, electronic clocks, VCR and DVD players, radios, and cell phones.
No items containing chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) will be accepted because a certified facility, such as the Lancaster Transfer Station on Ewing Street in Lancaster, must handle the disposal of this compound, which is commonly utilized as a refrigerant or as a propellant in aerosol cans.
Computer monitors will be accepted at no additional cost if they are included as part of an entire computer system. However, there will be a $3 disposal fee for computer monitors that are brought in without a processor or tower. Televisions will be accepted at the event at a cost of $1 per diagonal inch.
Call Patty Bratton with Litter Prevention and Recycling at 740-681-4423 with any electronics questions. Only cash and checks will be accepted as payment for disposal fees.
By Chad Lucht, CPESC, Senior Urban Specialist, Fairfield SWCD
