How To Keep Old Medicines Out Of The Catawba

Clean And Clear Catawba, by Alice Battle – April 13, 2012

Most of us can look through our medicine cabinets and find drugs that have expired or that we no longer need. How to dispose of them? The temptation is to flush them down the toilet. 
Please don't! These drugs then wind up in our treated waste water, which finds its way into our water supply –  including the Catawba River since that is where most Mecklenburg and Gaston treated waste water goes.

Waste water is not treated for drugs, so any medicines you flush down the toilet end up going into our river and possibly affecting people downstream from us as well as our our wildlife. 
Impact of drugs on wildlife and humans
Fish have already been found affected by hormones in the water. Some fish now show the genitalia of both sexes. Since the water we drink comes from the river, we, too, may be drinking the drugs that someone upstream from us flushed down the drain.
So what should you do with your old medicine? The answer is to look for sites that will dispose of drugs responsibly, such as Operation Medicine Drop.

Operation Medicine Drop on April 21 can help
Operation Medicine Drop will be held 10 a.m.-2 p.m. April 21 at two locations: Northcross Shopping Center at 9759 Sam Furr Road in Huntersville, and Stumptown Park, 120 S. Trade St. in Matthews. This event is conducted by the Police Department in cooperation with agencies such as the Catawba Riverkeeper, the Yadkin Riverkeeper, Safe Kids, Carolinas Medical Center and Poison Help.  
Gaston locations open yearround

If you live in Gaston County, you can drop off old prescription medicine anytime at the Gaston County Police Department and several other police offices. County residents can dispose of unwanted drugs safely into a mailbox-like locked box 24-7 without fear of contaminating our water or land. There are no questions asked, the police promise, and instructions for disposal are at the various locations. 
Here are drug drop-off locations in Gaston County.

• Gastonia – Gaston County Police Department, 420 W. Franklin Blvd.
• Belmont – Belmont Police Department, 201 Chronicle St.
• Mt. Holly – Mt. Holly Police Department, 125 E. Charlotte Ave.
• Cherryville – Cherryville Police Department, 704 E. Church St.
• Dallas – Dallas Police Department, 131 N. Gaston St.
• Bessemer City – Gaston County sub station, 132 W. Virginia Ave.

Keep our water supply as clean as possible. Do your part.  Every little bit helps. Just look at the number of drugs each of us has on hand and multiply it by the number of households.  It adds up to be quite a bit.

About Alice Battle – Alice lives on Mountain Island Lake has served on numerous groups devoted to protecting the lake, including the Duke Energy Relicensing stakeholders group. She currently is Lakekeeper for the Catawba Riverkeeper Foundation.