Wednesday November 10, 8:31 pm Eastern Time
HARTFORD, Conn., Nov 10 (Reuters) - Connecticut on Wednesday filed a lawsuit against Terminix International, the nation's biggest termite-control company, citing misuse of pesticides and falsification of records on ``thousands'' of occasions, state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said.
Blumenthal alleged that the Memphis, Tenn.-based company broke Connecticut's pesticide-safety laws more than 5,800 times over the past four years and should be made to pay heavy fines.
Terminix, a unit of Downers Grove, Ill.-based ServiceMaster Co (NYSE:SVM - news), strongly denied any wrongdoing and said it will fight the suit.
The action, filed in Hartford Superior Court by the state of Connecticut and the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), seeks total fines of more than $1 million.
``Terminix degraded the environment, defied the law, and endangered Connecticut citizens,'' Blumenthal said at a news conference.
``Overwhelming evidence established abysmal record keeping, shoddy work, sloppy application of hazardous chemicals, and substandard training for employees,'' Blumenthal said. ``Such flagrant, blatant abuses ought to bring serious and swift sanctions.''
Terminix called the allegations ``meritless.''
``The state's decision to file this lawsuit is inexplicable in that the DEP is already attempting to impose sanctions on Terminix through hearings, which have been proceeding since March of this year,'' the company said in a written statement.
``Accordingly, it appears to Terminix that the DEP's lawsuit is an attempt to reinvigorate a weak case and to intimidate Terminix into a settlement on terms which the DEP cannot obtain through the legal system.''