Final Fees Levied in Ag-Mart Case

In mid-March, a Florida administrative law judge rejected 71 of 78 pesticide violations alleged by state agricultural officials against Ag-Mart.  The judge’s order calls on the company to pay $8,400 for the remaining seven pesticide use violations at its north Florida farm.  The company had already agreed to pay $3,000 to resolve ten additional violations prior to the administrative hearing.  The total $11,400 fine was viewed as one of the most significant of its type, according to a Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) spokesperson. 

Ag-Mart was originally charged with 88 violations of state pesticide laws in 2005, with a fine total of $111,200.  Those charges were based on several months of investigations in that year at the farm and on records supplied by the grower.  The allegations centered around harvesting and reentry intervals.  This follows a December decision by a North Carolina administrative law judge who rejected more than two-thirds of 396 similar violations alleged against Ag-Mart by inspectors from that state.  The judge stated that North Carolina’s enforcement policy only allows for a single $500 fine, rather than $184,000. 

The Florida administrative law judge said his decision to reject most of the violations reflected the ambiguities of Florida pesticide law.  Although the law requires pesticide applicators to keep accurate records of when and where they apply pesticides, as well as the quantity and type, it does not require applicators or growers to keep accurate records of when and where farm workers enter the fields to conduct activities.  This makes it very difficult for FDACS to prove by “clear and convincing evidence” that an interval violation has occurred.  (Pesticide & Toxic Chemical News, 3/26/07).