Farmworker Arrested For Poisoning Birds
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Farmworker Arrested For Poisoning Birds
Date:
Sat, 27 Jul 2002 10:37:04 -400
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
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
Farmworker Arrested for Poisoning Birds
ATWOOD, Tennessee, July 25, 2002 (ENS) - A Tennessee farmworker has been arrested for misusing a pesticide, killing seven red tailed hawks and two black vultures.
Keel applied Temik, a restricted pesticide that is often used in cotton fields, in a way that poisoned rodents. The protected birds were killed after eating poisoned animals.
Donald Ray Keel, 57, was arrested by a U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) special agent after being indicted by a federal grand jury. Keel is charged with nine counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) for unlawful take of the raptors and one count of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).
If convicted of violating the MBTA, Keel faces up to four and a half years imprisonment - six months per count - and/or up to a $135,000 fine - $15,000 per count. If convicted of violating FIFRA, he could receive up to one year imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $100,000.
This is the first indictment achieved by the Western Tennessee Environmental Task Force, according to Sam Hamilton, southeast regional director of the USFWS. The task force is a coalition of state, federal and local law enforcement organizations and prosecutors' offices.
"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, and the Environmental Protection Agency were among those involved in the investigation of this case," said Hamilton. "In the future, this task force will continue to investigate and prosecute criminal violations of environmental laws in western Tennessee counties between the Mississippi and Tennessee Rivers."
Other state, federal and local agencies and offices participating in The Western Tennessee Environmental Task Force include the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Coast Guard, the Corps of Engineers, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Also involved are the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Tennessee, the Tennessee Attorney General's Office, and the District Attorney General for the 30th Judicial District, as well as the Memphis police and fire departments.
Well Mr. Helliker, if your "registered" POISON can "accidentally" kill rodents and birds, it can also "accidentally" kill people, especially little people. When will you allow the use of safe and far more effective unregistered alternatives?
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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