The Scotts Miracle-Gro Co., a producer of
pesticides for commercial and consumer uses, was sentenced yesterday in federal
court to pay a $4 million fine and perform community service for 11 criminal
violations of the federal pesticide laws.
Scotts pleaded guilty in February to:
- Illegally applying insecticides to its wild bird
food products that are toxic to birds.
- Falsifying pesticide registration documents.
- Distributing pesticides with misleading and
unapproved labels.
- Distributing unregistered pesticides.
This is the largest criminal penalty ever levied
under federal pesticide laws, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in
a statement.
In addition, in a civil agreement with the EPA,
Scotts agreed to pay more than $6 million in penalties and spend $2 million on
environmental projects to resolve civil pesticide violations. The violations
include distributing or selling unregistered, canceled, or misbranded
pesticides, including products with inadequate warnings or cautions. This is
the largest civil settlement under federal pesticide laws.
In the plea agreement, Scotts admitted that:
- It applied the pesticides Actellic 5E and Storcide
II to its bird food products even though the EPA had prohibited this use.
Scotts said it had applied the pesticide to protect its bird foods from insect
infestation during storage.
- It didn’t follow EPA directives when using these
pesticides and ignored the warning label on Storicide II containers, which
states, “Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other
wildlife.”
Scotts sold illegally treated bird food for two
years after it began marketing its bird food line and for six months after
employees warned Scotts management of the dangers of these pesticides, the EPA
said. By the time it voluntarily recalled these products in March 2008, Scotts
had sold more than 70 million units of bird food illegally treated with
pesticide that is toxic to birds.
Scotts also pleaded guilty to:
- Submitting false documents to the EPA and to state
agencies in an effort to deceive them into believing that pesticides were
registered with the EPA when they weren’t.
- Selling the unregistered pesticides illegally.
- Marketing pesticides with labels containing false
and misleading claims not approved by the EPA.
In addition to the $4 million criminal fine, Scotts
will contribute $500,000 to organizations that protect bird habitat, including
$100,000 each to the Ohio Audubon’s Important Bird Area Program, the Ohio
Department of Natural Resources’ Urban Forestry Program, the Columbus
Metro-Parks Bird Habitat Enhancement Program, the Cornell University
Ornithology Laboratory, and The Nature Conservancy of Ohio. The money will support
the protection of birds and habitats through conservation, research, and
education.
At the time the criminal violations were
discovered, the EPA also began a civil investigation that uncovered civil
violations that occurred for five years. Scotts’ civil violations included the
nationwide distribution or sale of unregistered, canceled, or misbranded
pesticides, including products with inadequate warnings or cautions. As a
result, the EPA issued more than 40 “Stop Sale, Use, or Removal Orders” to
Scotts to address more than 100 pesticide products.
In addition to the $6 million civil penalty, Scotts
will complete environmental projects, valued at $2 million, to acquire, restore,
and protect 300 acres of land to prevent runoff of agricultural chemicals into
nearby waterways.
Click here for more information about the civil settlement
and recalled products.
