N.C. Pesticide Board announces recent case settlements

The N.C. Pesticide Board approved the following settlement agreements for cases at its most recent meeting. Settlements are listed by county below:

• (Alleghany) Mitchell Bottomley, a licensed private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $700 because an employee applying an herbicide to a corn field in Glade Valley allowed the herbicide to drift onto adjacent property, which damaged apple trees and grass.
• (Alleghany) Jerry Wayne Edwards, a licensed private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $1,400 for burning pesticide containers in Sparta. The improper disposal violated several N.C. pesticide laws/regulations related to storage and disposal and endangerment of people, plants, animals, food, water and the environment.
• (Ashe) Don A. Smith, a licensed commercial pesticide applicator for Ultimate Property Maintenance/Third Day Market in Jefferson, agreed to pay $2,800 for violating provisions of the Worker Protection Standard that outlines recordkeeping for pesticide applications, worker training and provision of personal protective equipment. Smith was also found to have used pesticides not approved for use in the business’s greenhouse – a manner of use inconsistent with the pesticides’ labels – and operating in a faulty, careless or negligent manner.
• (Avery) Jeff Benfield, a licensed private pesticide applicator for Benfield Nursery in Newland, agreed to pay $500 for applying a pesticide to Christmas trees although the pesticide label states it should not be used in nurseries or on plants grown for commercial sale. The application was associated with a bee kill in a nearby apiary.
• (Beauford) James G. Hite Jr., of Greentech Land Care in Ayden, agreed to pay $800 for applying pesticides in Washington without a valid pesticide applicator license.
• (Beaufort) Kenneth R. Poorman, III, agreed to pay $500 for violating state law that forbids use of a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. His pesticide application involved a pasture in Pinetown. The label for the pesticide states “do not allow spray to drift to vegetables, flowers, ornamental plants, shrubs, trees and other desirable plants since injury may result.”
• (Bladen) Jerry A. Dowless Jr., the holder of a private pesticide applicator license, agreed to pay $800 for violating provisions of the Worker Protection Standard and other pesticide use inconsistent with the product(s) labeling in his peach orchard near East Arcadia/Riegelwood.
• (Brunswick) Jodon C. Jamison, the holder of a commercial pesticide applicator license for Crow Creek Golf Course in Calabash, agreed to pay $800 for use of a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling and handling pesticides in such a manner as to endanger the environment. Samples collected for this investigation from a storm drain and pond at the golf course detected the presence of several pesticides.
• (Chatham) Dennis Wilson, owner of Green Rite Lawn Care in Durham, agreed to pay $800 for applying herbicides without a commercial pesticide applicator’s license. When a state inspector observed a company employee making the application in the Governor’s Club community south of Chapel Hill in June 2019, the company had already been issued two prior Notices of Non-Compliance in October 2017 and August 2018.
• (Columbus) Jerry R. Robinson, a licensed private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $600 after drift from his herbicide application to a field damaged trees in a nearby residential yard in Whiteville. North Carolina law states that no person shall apply pesticides under such conditions that drift from pesticide particles or vapors results in adverse effects.
• (Craven) Andrew M. Bland, a licensed commercial pesticide applicator for Harvey’s Fertilizer and Gas Co. in Cove City, agreed to pay $800 for violating state law that forbids use of a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. Bland applied pesticides to a corn field, and samples taken in this investigation detected the presence of some of those pesticides on an adjacent pasture. The labels for the pesticides state they should be used in a manner to prevent drift.
• (Durham) Michael J. Moudry, the holder of a commercial pesticide applicator license for Lakewinds Golf Course in Rougemont, agreed to pay $1,200 for applying pesticides without a valid pesticide applicator license.
• (Edgecombe) Landon Scott Dail, a licensed private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $500 for violating state law that forbids use of a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling. This case involved a residential yard in Tarboro adjacent to his pesticide application to an agricultural field. The label for the pesticide states in part “do not allow spray to drift from the application site and contact people, structures people occupy… and the associated property.”
• (Gaston) Christine Ruiz of J&R Landscaping based in Lancaster, S.C., agreed to pay $800 for applying a pesticide in Dallas without a valid applicator’s license. When a state inspector observed a company employee making the application in September 2020, the company had already been issued a Notice of Non-Compliance in August of 2016.
• (Greene) Roger E. Johnsonbaugh, a licensed aerial pesticide applicator for Helicopter Applicators in Gettysburg, Penn., agreed to pay $1,200 after an aerial application of pesticides to forest land west of Walstonburg drifted onto a nearby soybean crop, causing damage to the plants. State law states that no person shall apply a pesticide aerially under such conditions that drift from pesticide(s) particles or vapors result in adverse effect, and that no pesticide shall be deposited onto any nontarget area in such a manner that it is more likely than not that adverse effect will occur.
• (Guilford) In relation to the Griffin/TriEast case below, Harold E. Apple Jr., a licensed private pesticide applicator in Gibsonville, agreed to pay $600 for applying soil fumigants when his certification in the soil fumigation category had expired. He has since recertified.
• (Haywood) Charles Boyd, the holder of a pesticide applicator license for W.N.C. Landscaping and Nursery in Waynesville, agreed to pay $800 for applying pesticides without a valid pesticide applicator license.
• (Lenoir) Christopher Wiggins, a private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $1,200 after two employees applied pesticides that came in contact with field workers. The application was found to be in violation of several pesticide laws/regulations, including provisions in the Worker Protection Standard.
• (Mecklenburg) Chance W. Rosenberger, the owner and operator of Curb Appeal Landscaping in Charlotte, agreed to pay $800 for applying pesticides in Huntersville without a valid pesticide applicators license. His license had expired at the time of the violation in July 2020, and the company had previously been issued several Notices of Non-Compliance. Rosenberger has since renewed his license.
• (Mecklenburg) Simplot Agribusiness, parent company of the Simplot Turf & Horticulture location in Charlotte, agreed to pay $800 for commercially applying pesticides without a valid pesticide applicator license.
• (Pitt) Kyle G. Easley of Easley Does It Lawnscapes in Greenville, agreed to pay $1,200 for applying pesticides without a valid applicator license.
• (Pitt) Drew Griffin, the holder of a pesticide dealer license for TriEast Ag Group in Greenville, agreed to pay $800 for making restricted use soil fumigants available to four customers who were not certified in the soil fumigation category.
• (Sampson) Jamie Beasley, a licensed private pesticide applicator, agreed to pay $600 after a pesticide application to his corn field drifted to a pepper field on a nearby property. North Carolina law states that no person shall apply pesticides under such conditions that drift from pesticide particles or vapors results in adverse effects.
• (Union) Mark Austin Smith, a licensed pesticide dealer for Nutrien Ag Solutions in Norwood, agreed to pay $1,500 for repackaging a restricted use pesticide into inappropriate storage containers and selling them to a farm in Monroe.
• (Wake) Tommie L. Wiggins of Wiggins Pro Tractor Cuts in Cary, agreed to pay $1,800 after he applied herbicides to a pasture without a valid applicator license.

                                                           -bhh,4