Lt. Governor Quinn honors students of Pontiac Township High School with Environmental Hero award!

Pontiac students keep water supply safer with drug disposal program

PEORIA – On the eve of Earth Day, Monday April 21 at 1:00 p.m., Lt. Governor Pat Quinn will salute the students and teachers of Pontiac Township High School who are taking immediate and preemptive action to reduce the amount of prescription and non-prescription drugs in the water supply.

“The students and teachers of Pontiac Township High School are not waiting around for tests to prove that their drinking water may contain trace amounts of drugs,” Lt. Governor Quinn said at a news conference along the banks of the Illinois River. “They dove directly into the problem and surfaced with a solution. We want to salute these students and teachers for launching the Pontiac Prescription Drug Disposal Program.”

With recent tests and studies finding that pharmaceuticals are slipping into the nation’s waterways and drinking water supply, the students and teachers of Pontiac Township High School did not hesitate to act. They coordinated their community resources and launched a program to allow for the safe disposal of prescription and non-prescription drugs.

Thanks to the Pontiac Prescription Drug Disposal Program, local pharmacies are collecting unused and unwanted prescription and non-prescription drugs and placing the drugs in secure bins. Once filled, the bins are safely incinerated. In addition, the Pontiac Police Department has a secure deposit box where residents may drop unused and unwanted class II controlled substances.

The students of Mr. Paul Ritter's Ecology class and Mr. Eric Bohm's Illinois Studies class are working with local pharmacies, the police department and local officials to coordinate the program, which also serves as a way to educate the public about the dangers of improperly disposing of drugs.

The following students will be on hand to receive an Environmental Hero award on behalf of Pontiac Township High School: Amanda McBride, Vicki Izaguirre, Brittany Kolesar, Danielle McMillan, Kehaulani Blankenship, and Sherry Knittel.

“I am proud that these students are taking action to maintain a healthful environment for the benefit of this and future generations,” Quinn said. “We must all work together to ensure our waterways are protected and our drinking water is safe, and the students of Pontiac Township High School are doing their part.”

Pontiac’s efforts to keep its waterways clean will have the effect of improving water quality in the surrounding area. Pontiac is located on the Vermilion River, which is a tributary of the Illinois River.

Properly disposing of prescription and non-prescription drugs is the first step in reducing the amount of drugs and chemicals in our water supply. Tests have shown trace amounts of many over-the-counter and prescription drugs such as antibiotics, anti-depressants, birth control pills, seizure medication, painkillers, and chemicals from common household goods are slipping into the nation’s waterways and water supply.

Drugs and chemicals land in our water supply when they are improperly disposed of, entering the sewer system directly when they are flushed and seeping into the ground water when they are thrown away. Medications also enter our water supply when they pass through our bodies and trace amounts slip through sewage and water treatment facilities.

While the amounts of contaminants found in recent tests are not currently considered unsafe, experts do not yet fully understand the consequences of long-term exposure to trace amounts of drugs and chemicals.

For more information about Lt. Governor Quinn’s clean water initiatives, please visit: CleanWaterIllinois.org