Report confirms Peri & Sons not at fault in ag chemical incident PATRICK ABANATHY The owners of a field that was the site of a Sept. 26 agricultural chemical incident involving around 150 farm laborers has been cleared of any wrongdoing, with a report from Charles Moses, environmental scientist for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, pointing to a weather inversion that morning as the prime culprit. The incident involved an off-gas of the agricultural fumigant chloropicrin that was held close to the ground by the inversion, and causing some Peri & Sons Farms laborers to begin experiencing eye irritation and nausea. Twelve of those workers were treated in the emergency room at South Lyon Medical Center, the others were assessed and/or treated in an outdoor triage center, and all of the laborers were released from the hospital later that day. A resulting investigation by the Department of Agriculture, U.S. EPA and OSHA determined Peri & Sons met all requirements of administering chloropicrin, with Moses reporting, "The (chloropicrin) label specifies that it must be applied in accordance with the Worker Protection Standard (WPS)," and, "It was determined that Peri & Sons Farms met its obligation under the WPS." David Peri, president and chief executive officer of Peri & Sons Farms, said of the report, "The key points in the report from the Nevada Department of Agriculture clearly indicate that the entire event was caused by a rare weather inversion (that could not have been avoided) and that Peri & Sons Farms and Advanced Applications (Silverado Ranch Supply) were in full compliance (in fact, above and beyond the requirements) with all of the applicable laws and product label guidelines." And he added that Peri & Sons Farms and Advanced Applications have both been commended for their safe farming practices by Moses, as well as Rob Palmer of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection Bureau of Corrective Actions, Julie Jordan of the EPA, Alberto Garcia and Maritza McLaughlin, both of OSHA. In addition, Peri said it is important for the community to know Peri & Sons Farms has received a superior rating from Scientific Certification Systems for safe and clean farming practices for the last four consecutive years; and that last year, Peri & Sons was the first agricultural company in the United States to be awarded "The Clean Food Standard." "We are very proud of the standard of excellence in agriculture at Peri & Sons Farms," Peri said. "We believe that our company is establishing a framework of social, environmental and quality requirements to demonstrate sustainable agriculture in Lyon County. We voluntarily take exceptional measures to make sure that we continue to promote continuing improvement and stimulate innovation in agricultural production practices." The report says the fumigant was applied on Sept. 24 and 25 on a field near the field where workers were present on Sept. 26. It also reports that in accordance with legal documentation provided with the fumigant, it was not applied during a weather inversion; however, an inversion did occur the following day, preventing an off-gas associated with chloropicrin from mixing with fresh air and escaping into the atmosphere. Moses said further investigation showed the workers were not required to be notified of the fumigation, as the fields in question were approximately one-third of a mile apart (chloropicrin requires workers located only within a quarter of a mile be notified of an application). Other findings in the report included that Peri & Sons met proper sign postage for the treated field, proper decontamination equipment was available at the fields, notification was posted for workers at the operation's central office, and proper pesticide records were kept. Still, Moses recommended additional steps aimed at preventing a similar occurrence, saying the posting at the central office was not 100 percent effective as some workers are transported directly from the operation's housing complex to the fields being worked without stopping at the office. To this, he recommended that an additional information center be placed at the housing complex. The report notes that Peri & Sons Farms agreed to that recommendation; and it also points out that another suggested precaution----not allowing fumigation on ranches where onions are being harvested----was brought forward by Peri & Sons staff, and which he agrees this would be an appropriate measure. Moses said one of the bigger contributors in this incident was air drift, indicating that Nevada Administrative Code requires pesticides to be "substantially contained" to prevent drift; but also that with multiple definitions of the word "drift," it is difficult to determine how "substantial containment" applies in this case. In any case, Moses also recommended closer monitoring of environmental conditions, suggesting that Peri & Sons update its air monitoring equipment prior to the next fumigation, thereby allowing fumigant levels to be monitored more closely at fields adjacent to those being treated. Moses also noted the chloropicrin label notes monitoring of fumigant air levels, though it does not require it. As for the community response to the incident, including Lyon County Emergency Management, local law enforcement and the Mason Valley Fire Protection District, Moses gave a thumbs up. "In my opinion, I believe that local community response was excellent and adequate measures were in place to deal with the large number of farm workers who became ill," the report says. "This includes Peri & Sons Farms, the various first responders (through activation of the Incident Command System) and (the) South Lyon Medical Center." |