Record Breaking Unwanted Medication Collection In McKean County

Sixty-eight McKean County Residents delivered medications to the Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Unwanted Medication Collection Program on September 12 at the Penn State Extension Office in Smethport.

(Photo: Roger Sager and Bryan Goodrow, McKean County Sheriff Deputies, show some of the unwanted medications collected in Smethport this past Saturday.)

Over 11 garbage bags were collected and sent to an approved medical waste incinerator for proper disposal.

Penn State Extension Water Resources Educator, Jim Clark, has assisted the McKean Sheriff’s Office organize during every DEA Take Back Program offered in Pennsylvania. This collection was record breaking in McKean County for the most participants and the most drugs collected.

The event was sponsored locally by the McKean County Sheriff’s Office, Penn State Extension, and PA CleanWays of McKean, an affiliate of Keep PA Beautiful.

Unused prescription medications should not be flushed or washed down the drain. The residue from flushed pharmaceuticals affects fish and other aquatic species, and could find their way into human drinking water supplies.

(Article and photo by James A. Clark, Extension Water Resources Educator, Renewable Natural Resources Extension Team, Penn State Extension, McKean County, and reprinted from the Sept. 14 Watershed Winds newsletter from Penn State Extension.  Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)

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