By Tracy Overstreet
tracy.overstreet@theindependent.com

"We had been flushing them," Mary Olson said of prescriptions she and her husband, Bob, brought in.

But when the Olsons learned that wastewater treatment plants are not set up to handle or remove the dissolved medication, they weren't quite sure what to do.

"We just left it in the medicine cabinet there was some back to 2002," Mary Olson said.

Then the Olsons saw the opportunity to participate in a drug collection organized by Clean Community System of Grand Island and Hall County.

A Hall County Sheriff's deputy staffed the collection along with Clean Community System worker Rodger Williams, a retired law officer. Williams said all the medication collected Wednesday would be incinerated by the Hall County Sheriff's Department on Thursday morning.

That method of disposal will prevent the medication from entering the environment through the wastewater treatment system.

But there are other benefits, too, said Clean Community System Director Betty Curtis.

Adults on multiple medications have a reduced chance of mixing up old and new medicines when old ones are removed. Children also have reduced access to prescription medications for use at so-called "pharm" parties as a way to get high, she said.

"I think we're addressing three things in one," Curtis said.

Clean Community System has offered the prescription collections in the past in conjunction with its household hazardous waste collection events. Wednesday's drug collection was the first stand-alone event locally.

The Clean Community System had made a special effort to advertise the collection event at area retirement homes.

Chrysalis janitor Vernon Colfack said all tenants in the 72 apartments there were made aware of the event. He dropped off the facility's collection of prescriptions during the Wednesday collection.

"I think it was an awesome opportunity to get rid of the expired and unused drugs without flushing them and getting them into our water," said Chrysalis Administrator Mary Ann Ressel.