Terminix and environmental law violations

Subject: Terminix To Pay State $1 Million Over Violations
Date:     Thu, 27 Jun 2002 10:13:49 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation

Dear Mr. Helliker, I thought you might like to read an article dated: Wednesday 26 June, 2002 entitled: Terminix To Pay State $1 Million Over Violations by Gregory B. Hladky, Capitol Bureau Chief.

HARTFORD - Terminix, Connecticut's largest pest control company, agreed Tuesday to pay the state $1 million and close its North Haven office for three months to settle charges of repeated environmental law violations.

State Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said the penalty is "certainly the largest ever in New England and most probably the largest in the nation." He said Terminix's North Haven office was being closed because it had been the focus for many of the complaints against the company.

"The company's shoddy work and sloppy, haphazard use of hazardous chemicals put citizens at risk and endangered the environment," Blumenthal said of the state's four-year investigation and legal battle against Terminix.

Blumenthal said the company has agreed to numerous reforms in the way it does business and that ServiceMaster, the corporate parent of Terminix, has agreed to guarantee those reforms.

But spokesmen for Terminix International Co., LP, which is headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., denied their company was guilty of any of violations.

"The alleged violations are simple issues of paperwork, most of which were based upon unpublished clarifications and inconsistent interpretations of the state's record-keeping regulations and statutes by (state) Department of Environmental Protection staff," Terminix President Albert Cantu said in a written statement.

"None of these violations had to do with misapplication of pesticide," said Jay F. Malcynsky, a lobbyist for Terminix.

Blumenthal and DEP Commissioner Arthur J. Rocque Jr. disagreed. They said there were multiple allegations against Terminix for improper pesticide use.

"We have at least 15 specific examples and complains of misapplication or non-application of pesticide (by Terminix)," Blumenthal said. Rocque added that the company's "record keeping was so bad that you couldn't tell" if it had handled pesticides properly.

A DEP report on Terminix issued earlier this year found that the company had engaged in "widespread use of unsupervised applicators" that led to dangerous or ineffective use of pesticides. Some of the reforms required under the settlement will require Terminix to use qualified supervisors and managers to oversee work and compliance with state environmental laws.

The report also alleged Terminix had falsified records, denied the state access to records and that there was "credible evidence that Terminix employees had been pressured to lie to DEP investigators." In 1999, the Attorney General's Office sued Terminix for "thousands of violations of state environmental laws."

One case that helped prompt the lawsuit involved a Deep River home where Terminix employees drilled holes in a basement slab as part of a pesticide application. The drilling punctured a heating fuel line, which leaked oil into the soil and groundwater.

Terminix eventually agreed to purchase the home for more than its appraised value to settle the case.

According to Goldenberg, the company plans to close its North Haven office in August. Under the settlement, Terminix will keep the office closed for 90 days but will be allowed to keep open its other offices in Trumbull, Waterbury and South Windsor. Those offices will service Greater New Haven customers.

Well Mr. Helliker, it is obvious to me, that there is simply is no effective way to "regulate" the use/misuse of your "registered" POISONS. These are only the problems that were reported. It gives you an idea of how bad it really is "out there". Yet, you still refuse to allow the use of safe and far more effective (unregistered) alternatives - why?

When you find pests eating your plants, look for several varieties of weeds that are not being attacked by the same disease/insect pest(s) and put these weeds through a juicer or blender saving the liquid and adding an equal amount of water. Spray or spronkle this mix on the plants you wish to protect. Whatever organic material was protecting the weeds will now protect your plants. Orange juice kills fire ants and aspargus juice kills nematodes - why are these and the thousands of other safe alternatives I know about "illegal" in your opinion?

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