AUGUSTA -- Maine residents can get rid of their banned or unusable pesticides for free this fall.

The Maine Board of Pesticides Control will collect and dispose of banned pesticides or pesticides that have become caked, frozen, or otherwise unusable at four sites throughout the state this fall.

Preregistration is required by Sept. 15.

To register, find out more information, or to learn about the temporary storage and transportation of obsolete pesticides, go to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control Web site at www.thinkfirstspraylast.org. Or, call 287-2731.

There will be collection sites in Augusta, Portland, Bangor and Presque Isle.

The collected chemicals go to out-of-state disposal facilities licensed by the US EPA where they are incinerated or reprocessed.