May 27, 2009
States issue fines for pesticide violations on onions
Mitch Lies, Capital Press
The Oregon and Idaho departments of agriculture have issued 10 fines totaling nearly $200,000 for pesticide violations on onions during the 2008 growing season.
Officials in the two states said all the fines were for improper or erroneous application of two chemicals - Furadan and Basagran - that are not labeled for use on onions.
Two of the growers, in Malheur County in Oregon, were penalized two years ago for similar violations.
The fines for off-label applications of Furadan and Basagran in Oregon range from $10,000 to $70,000. The $70,000 fine is the largest civil penalty ever issued by the department for an applicator infraction.
The Oregon growers have 10 days to appeal the penalties.
Stemming from the same investigation, the Idaho Department of Agriculture fined two Idaho growers, a field consultant, a chemical supplier and an applicator for pesticide infractions involving Basagran and Furadan.
The Idaho fines ranged from $500 to $6,000.
The highest fine the Idaho Department of Agriculture can issue is $3,000 per infraction.
In Idaho, field consultant Boyd Peterson of Payette was fined $3,000 for recommending a grower apply Basagran off-label to onions. Grower Darin Walker of Weiser was fined $6,000 for applying Basagran off-label to onions. Grower Rick Michael of Weiser was fined $6,000 also for applying Basagran off-label to onions.
Farmers Supply Cooperative of Weiser was fined $3,000 for distributing Basagran for use on onions. And James Jennings was fined $500 for a faulty aerial application after Furadan being applied to alfalfa drifted onto an adjacent onion field.
The Oregon Department of Agriculture, meanwhile, used new authority granted it by the 2007 Legislature in fining the Oregon growers $10,000 per violation. The department must determine a violation was willful and negligent to issue the $10,000 maximum fine.
The previous maximum fine in Oregon was $1,000 for a first violation and $2,000 for a repeat violation.
The Oregon growers were fined the maximum in all 18 infractions.
Kris Yano of Ontario, Ore., was fined $70,000 for seven cases of allegedly misusing the herbicide Basagran. Brent Wagstaff of WBH Farms in Nyssa, Ore., was hit with $60,000 in fines, including $10,000 for allegedly misusing Furadan and $50,000 for five incidents of allegedly applying Basagran off-label.
Froerer Farms of Nyssa was fined $30,000 for three cases of allegedly misusing Basagran. Craig Crawford and David Navarrete, both of Ontario, both were issued a $10,000 penalty - Crawford for allegedly misusing Basagran, and Navarrete for allegedly misusing Furadan.
Crawford and Froerer Farms were fined in 2007 for off-label application of Furadan to onions.
ODA tested 86 samples of soil, weeds, onion foliage and bulbs from 60 fields in uncovering the 18 positive tests. The investigations were initiated based on a tip.
The Oregon and Idaho penalties come two years after a sweeping investigation in 2006 uncovered evidence that more than a dozen Oregon growers and several Idaho growers misused Furadan on onions.
Sixteen Malheur County growers were fined a total of $112,000 in 2007 for off-label applications stemming from the 2006 investigation.
Also resulting from the 2006 investigation, Land View Inc., an Ontario, Ore., pesticide dealer, was fined $89,910 for selling Furadan to an unlicensed applicator 81 times over a 30-month period.
Following those incidents, the Oregon agriculture industry asked the state Legislature to grant the Oregon Department of Agriculture authority to increase the dollar amount it can fine growers for off-label pesticide application.
Lynn Jensen, Oregon State University Malheur County Extension onion specialist, said the vast majority of onion growers in the area are "extremely disappointed" over the recent developments.
"The onion industry is very concerned about these practices," he said. "The honest people pay for the dishonest ones. ... That's what happened with the Furadan case (in 2006) is the honest people are having to pay to prove they're honest."
Jensen said onion shippers are considering imposing mandatory testing on all Malheur County onions at growers' expense to ensure no illegal materials are present.
Jensen suspects growers used the broad spectrum, systemic insecticide Furadan for thrips control. Furadan contains carbofuran, which the Environmental Protection Agency is phasing out.
Thrips vector the potentially devastating iris yellow spot virus.
Several alternatives are available to control the pest, Jensen said. But the alternatives require multiple applications - typically once every seven to 10 days for eight to 10 weeks.
"With Furadan, you don't have to be in there as frequently to get the job done. It's cheaper for them," Jensen said.
In the case of Basagran, which growers use to control yellow nutsedge, few options exist, Jensen said.
The weed has mushroomed in recent years and now is a major pest in the area.
Growers gain some control using fumigants in the fall and coming back with Dual Magnum and Outlook in the growing season, he said.
"But if a field gets bad, you just have to take it out of onion production," Jensen said.
Onions from fields with positive soil or foliage tests were embargoed and prohibited from entering commercial channels until tests confirmed they contained no pesticide residue.
Growers plowed out two fields with bulbs that tested positive for the pesticides.
"We'll be having close surveillance in the area (this year)," Mitchell said.
"We cannot allow this practice to continue. I'm surprised it happened a second time," he said.
