Six England companies pay fines for pesticide violations

Six New England companies that produce pesticide products recently settled with EPA for failing to properly submit annual production reports, as required by federal law.

The law that governs pesticide use in the U.S., the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), requires pesticide manufacturers to submit annual production reports to EPA. An EPA review concluded that each of the six companies has failed to properly submit this information.

The six companies are: Roebic Laboratories Inc. of Orange, Conn.; NIAF Corp. of Framingham, Mass.; Seaman Paper Co. of Massachusetts, Inc. of Otter River, Mass..; Tropical Products, Inc. of Salem, Mass.; BioDefense Corp of Boston, Mass.; and Elm Research Institute of Keene, N.H.

The companies have addressed all violations and must pay fines ranging from $150 up to $7,650. Penalties were based on several factors including, among other things, the type of violation, the size of business, and the financial ability to pay a penalty.

Section 7 of FIFRA requires that each registered pesticide producing establishment submit annual production reports to EPA on or before March 1st. These reports are the only means that EPA has for obtaining information on the types and amounts of pesticides being produced, sold or distributed both domestically and for export during the year. EPA uses the information to trace ineffective, contaminated or recalled pesticide products, among other purposes.

Pesticides include insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, antimicrobials or other substances and pest control devices used to control insects, weeds or microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses.