EPA Fines Pesticide Applicator for Alleged Violations of Federal Pesticide Law

The Environmental Protection Agency recently fined Nutrien Ag Solutions Inc. for allegedly applying pesticides in Kansas that were canceled by the federal government. 

The Colorado-based company, which sells, distributes, and applies pesticides mainly for farming operations, will pay $668,000. 

In 2020, EPA canceled the use of certain pesticides containing the active ingredient dicamba, in response to a Ninth Circuit Court order vacating the registration of those pesticides. 

The Court cited, among other things, evidence that dicamba could drift onto neighboring crops and damage them during high winds. 

According to EPA, Nutrien Ag Solutions violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act when it allegedly used two dicamba products in a manner inconsistent with the approved label on at least 27 occasions. 

Further, EPA alleged that the company violated the law on 33 occasions when it applied other dicamba products on multiple Kansas farms during periods of high wind speeds in violation of pesticide label requirements.

(Story Courtesy of NAFB News Service)