Wilbur-Ellis is a multinational corporation that specializes in providing agricultural technology. According to the EPA, they were hired in 2018 to apply pesticides to Luis Scattini & Son’s Breshini ranch in Castroville, and Merrill Farm’s Broom ranch in Salinas.
Both farms grow crops like romaine lettuce, celery and brussel sprouts.
After the County’s Agricultural Commissioner’s Office inspected the farms, they discovered three pesticide violations made by Wilbur-Ellis employees — and reported it to the EPA.
Matt Salazar manages the toxics branch of the US EPA’s enforcement division. Salazar said the agency imposed a nearly $25,000 penalty on Wilbur-Ellis for the violations.
“We regularly work with the state, the department of pesticide regulations and the counties to make sure that you know, when entities violate that, they're held to appropriate standards,” Salazar said.
According to the EPA, the Wilbur-Ellis employees were improperly applying the EPA regulated pesticide Orthene 97.
Salazar said when applying this pesticide, the Wilbur-Ellis applicator has to use what is called an anemometer to gauge wind speeds. Both farms were not doing this and each applicator suffered violations for incorrect application and use.
Inspectors also found the Wilbur-Ellis employee sold and applied an unregistered EPA pesticide to Merrill Farms’ Broome Ranch to control weeds on their land.
Salazar said the sale and distribution of unregulated pesticides is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
He said these laws are in place to minimize contact between the chemicals and local community members.
“To protect both farmworkers and neighbors and first responders, everybody needs to follow the label of the pesticide, in this case Wilbur Ellis,” Salazar said.
The EPA said Wilbur-Ellis has agreed to pay the nearly $25,000 settlement. Wilbur-Ellis, Merrill Farms, and Luis Scatini & Sons have not responded to requests for comment.
The issue of mishandling pesticides is widespread on California farms, according to a new survey by UC Merced. The survey reveals the harsh conditions California farmworkers face at work and at home.
The survey found that about 12% of farmworkers are sometimes expected to work near pesticides when it's unsafe — five percent said they are often expected, and three percent said they are very often expected.
Meanwhile, only about 57% of farmworkers said they received safe pesticide training in the past year.
You can anonymously report illegal pesticide use by downloading California's System for Pesticide Incident Reporting app — abbreviated as, CASPIR.
