Thursday, June 14, 2007
Del Monte fined $24,640 over pesticides
By Gordon Y.K. Pang
Advertiser West O'ahu Writer
The EPA has charged Del Monte Fresh Produce with failure to comply with
label directions regarding pesticide application and precautions to
protect worker health and the environment.
Del Monte Fresh Produce has been fined $24,640 by the Environmental
Protection Agency for failing to properly use registered pesticides at
the now-defunct pineapple plantation in Kunia during 2004-05.
The fine was announced by the EPA in a press release yesterday.
The registered pesticides were Teleone II, Assure II and Diazinon 50 W
Pro. Del Monte failed to comply with label directions regarding
pesticide application and precautions to protect worker health and the
environment.
The EPA said the state Department of Agriculture investigated the
plantation following worker complaints and discovered 28 violations
during inspections performed in April and May of 2004 and September
2005.
Specifically, Del Monte failed to have a certified pesticide worker
apply or supervise the application and to notify workers of the
pesticide applications. The company also did not provide
decontamination supplies to workers and failed to protect workers from
being exposed to drifting pesticides.
The EPA is not aware that any workers were injured as a result of the
violations, said Dean Higuchi, the agency's Hawai'i spokesman.
"The important thing about this enforcement action is it's a reminder
to all companies who apply pesticides on a regular basis to follow all
worker protection rules and produce label instructions," Higuchi said.
"Just as important, homeowners or anyone else using pesticides need to
carefully read and use the produce properly."
Efforts to reach Del Monte officials were unsuccessful.
The settlement is unrelated to the EPA's consent decree with Del Monte
and the owner of the land under the plantation, the James Campbell Co.,
over Superfund violations involving a 1977 spill of 495 gallons of EDB
containing .25 percent of DBCP approximately 60 feet from the Kunia
well.
Del Monte is proceeding with cleanup of an area of roughly 13 acres, a
process that is expected to take about seven years.
The EPA announced earlier this week that it had reached a settlement
with Campbell restricting the use of the land in question.
Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/article/2007/Jun/14/bz/FP706140320.html