Virginia officials say the state collected more than 58,000 pounds of unwanted pesticides this year.

The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has
been running the Pesticide Disposal Program since 1990.

The program helps farmers, pesticide dealers, pest control companies, golf courses and homeowners with the proper disposal of unwanted pesticides.

Since the program's inception, the program has collected and
destroyed more than 1.6 million pounds of pesticides.

State Agriculture Commissioner Matthew Lohr said Wednesday that
in the early years, the program collected vast quantities of material that had been sitting in sheds or barns for years.

He said the program now is in more of a maintenance phase.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)