PALM BEACH POST

January 24, 2006

Legislators find pesticide laws unenforced

By Alan Gomez, Palm Beach Post Capitol Bureau

TALLAHASSEE — Legislators on a committee studying migrant farmworker issues got some numbers Monday to back up what many had long feared — that laws protecting workers from pesticide exposure are not tough enough or sufficiently enforced.

Among the findings from a presentation by the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:

• Only 600 of the 40,000 farms, greenhouses and nurseries in Florida were inspected by the department last year for violations of pesticide laws, meaning more than 98 percent had no oversight by the state.

• Of those inspected, 32 percent were found to have been in violation of pesticide laws.

• Of the 74 farms inspected last year based on complaints from workers or advocates, the department issued $8,000 worth of fines.

"That's just a horrendous record," said Rep. John Quinones, R-Kissimmee.

The presentation came during a meeting of the Joint Legislative Committee on Migrant and Seasonal Labor where legislators were preparing a report of legislative recommendations that they must submit to the leaders of the House and Senate next month. The report will concentrate on shortcomings in housing for migrant workers, health care, access to education and a potentially flawed system that relies on crew chiefs to manage workers.

But Monday's pesticide presentation quickly changed the order of their priority list.

"I think pesticides has moved to the top of the committee's agenda," said Sen. Dave Aronberg, D-Greenacres. "That was the biggest surprise of the day."

Legislators were not accusing the department of being lax or inefficient. Instead, some argued that the department is understaffed, with only 20 inspectors available statewide, and that state laws outlining possible fines are not strong enough.

The department has requested a $700,000 budget increase to hire an additional eight inspectors, which will allow them to double their inspections for the upcoming year.

"It may still not be enough," said Sen. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, the co-chairman of the committee and a citrus grower. "If you have more regular inspections of folks, you would probably have a higher level of compliance."

Legislators will also consider whether to increase fines for owners who violate the law.

Dale Dubberly, chief of the department's Bureau of Compliance Monitoring, said first-time offenders are given a warning letter and follow-up violations can be fined up to $10,000.

Quinones said an increase in inspectors must be accompanied by an increase in those fines, two items the legislature will now likely take up during the regular session, scheduled to start in March.

"There needs to be some teeth as well," Quinones said.

Farmworker advocates who spoke before the committee applauded both ideas, saying the lack of inspections and substantial fines have combined with migrants' unwillingness to report any wrongdoings out of fear of retribution to create a dangerous situation for workers.

"We're all humans, right?" said Marcos Crisanto, a Volusia County man who has worked Florida's fields for nearly two decades. "There are a lot of us who don't understand the situation with pesticides. There are a lot of pregnant women who don't know the effect pesticides will have on their unborn children. I think they should enforce more of the laws."