PALM BEACH POST October 14, 2005
Ag-Mart also accused of violations in N.C.Palm Beach Post Staff Writers A day after Florida agriculture officials fined tomato-grower Ag-Mart Produce $111,200 in a complaint citing 88 pesticide violations, agriculture officials in North Carolina confirmed Thursday they had notified the company of at least as many violations in their state. North Carolina agriculture officials would not elaborate on their findings or the amount of the fine until the company received notice via certified mail, a spokesman said. An Environmental Protection Agency official in Washington confirmed that in North Carolina, it is alleged that Ag-Mart applied some pesticides more often than allowed by the label. The EPA, along with other federal agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, plans to analyze findings of the investigations in Florida and North Carolina, the EPA official said. The company, which grows the popular Santa Sweets grape tomato, operates farms in Florida, North Carolina, New Jersey and Mexico. Other investigations continue. The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection confirmed Thursday that it, too, is investigating Ag-Mart's pesticide "use and practices" in that state. North Carolina health officials confirmed this week that they also are investigating Ag-Mart. Ag-Mart, based in Plant City, declined to comment on the North Carolina allegations as it had no information as of late Thursday. Ag-Mart on Thursday said it "will be appealing most of the alleged pesticide use violations" in Florida, including allegations that it allowed workers to reenter fields too soon after pesticides had been applied. Ag-Mart has 21 days to ask for a hearing. The company said it "fully cooperated" with Florida agriculture investigators and is "confident that most of the agency's alleged violations are neither justified or factually accurate. We look forward to successfully challenging the asserted violations of federal and state pesticide laws through the administrative hearing process." The investigation found that Ag-Mart repeatedly violated strict harvesting and field reentry rules designed to keep workers safe. A report released Wednesday by health officials in Collier County, where the company has a farm in Immokalee, found no link between pesticides used on Florida farms and the deformities of three babies born to Ag-Mart fieldworkers last winter. Collier County health officials reissued a segment of the report Thursday after being notified by The Palm Beach Post about a discrepancy concerning the conception and birth date of one of the babies. According to the report released Wednesday, Jesus Navarrete was likely conceived between Feb. 15 and 26, 2004. He was born Feb. 4, 2005. Under those time frames, his mother would have been pregnant for as much as 51 weeks. "It's impossible if she delivered the baby in February (2005) that we could take February (2004) as the possible date of conception," said Hugo Leon, a department research associate. After learning of the discrepancy, Mark Crowley, the department's director of epidemiology, and Leon requested data from the Florida Birth Defects Registry and revised the possible conception date for the Navarrete baby to April 10-24, 2004. With the new conception dates, Jesus' mother would have worked in the fields during the critical part of her pregnancy for eight days — not the 29 days calculated in Wednesday's report. On only one of those days — not 11 as reported Wednesday — were pesticides improperly used, the revised report says. "It doesn't change the outcome," Leon said. "It doesn't change anything at all. It's just numbers." The investigations began in March after an outreach worker in Immokalee, where most of the parents worked, learned of the deformed babies in February. The worker brought the cases to the attention of The Post. Carlos Candelario Herrera was born Dec. 17 with no arms or legs. Jesus Navarrete was born with an under-developed jaw and swallowing problem on Feb. 4. Two days later, Maria Meza gave birth to a child with a missing nose, one ear and no visible sexual organs. The child, originally named Jorge but renamed Violeta after doctors confirmed her sex, died three days later. The investigation highlighted the need for additional pesticide inspectors at the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, said spokesman Terry McElroy. FDACS employs about 45 pesticide exposure inspectors for all its 44,000 farms, livestock operations and 200 million square feet of nursery foliage. Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson said Thursday he intends to ask for money to pay for 10 additional pesticide-safety inspectors and five additional inspectors in the food-safety division. "We think this (Ag-Mart) has helped highlight the importance of this program," McElroy said. "I think this has been something that has raised the consciousness for greater pesticide safety and enforcement."
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