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Due to increasing concerns over pharmaceuticals polluting our surface water, Chisago County Environmental Services is announcing a new and innovative program for the disposal of unwanted medications (over-the-counter prescription and animal).

Chisago County residents may drop off unwanted/unused medications into a depository located next to the Sheriff's Office in the basement of the Government Center in Center City. It will be open during normal business hours: 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

You'll want to remove any personal information from the containers (e.g., name, address), please leave the name of the drug on the bottle. All drop offs will be anonymous and confidential. Follow any special instructions as posted on the depository. The collected pharmaceuticals will be properly destroyed at an approved incinerator.

Call the Chisago County Household Hazardous Waste Facility at 651-237-0912 with questions or comments.

Pharmaceutical contamination of our water comes from two basic sources:

1. Improper disposal of unwanted medications. For years, most of us have been trained to get rid of old or unwanted drugs by flushing them down the toilet or tossing them in the trash. This practice evolved from a desire to keep potentially dangerous drugs out of the hands of others, especially children and drug addicts, and the simple fact that there was no good alternative. Recent research is showing, however, that the toilet may be the least environmentally friendly method of disposing of old or unwanted drugs. As more negative affects from these practices are documented, it has become increasingly necessary to develop a better disposal option.

2. Human and animal excretion of un-metabolized medicine. When a person takes a drug, only a percentage is used by the body, and the remainder is excreted. These percentages vary widely depending on the individual and the drug. Research that was part of a recent presentation to the county commissioners included findings of female organs (ovaries) in male fish. Researchers are documenting drugs like antidepressants accumulating in aquatic creatures. Waste medicines find their way into the environment through septic systems, in outflow from sewer plants, in landfill leachate into groundwater and animal anti-biotics and medicines enter through feedlot run-off.

The presence of controlled substances in waters and streams is just starting to be addressed.

Chisago County's Household Hazardous Waste Facility Director Paul Dennison says; "...inevitably we get calls from people asking about disposing of prescriptions and pharmaceuticals." Dennison explained that people might be cleaning belongings from a loved one's residence and will find expired or stockpiled medications tucked away. The HHHWF in North Branch can accept Over The Counter (OTC) waste medicines but controlled substances are a different matter.

Dennison checked around with area pharmacies to see if any service is offered for disposal and he found "in house" procedures are in place for the companies, but there was nothing available for the general public to be able to legally get rid of unwanted controlled substances and do it in an environmentally friendly manner.

Dennison talked with the sheriff's code enforcement officer and others, and they developed a special drop box in the government center.

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