美國Scotts Miracle-Gro公司為商業用途、草皮及花園的農藥生產商，由於違背聯邦法關於農藥生產、分裝及銷售11項刑事違法行為，哥倫布市聯邦法院9月7日判處支付400萬罰金及履行社區服務。
這是美國「聯邦殺蟲劑、殺菌劑、滅鼠劑法（FIFRA）」有史以來求處最高的罰金。
司法部環境和自然資源部助理總檢察長Ignacia Moreno表示，「作為全球最大的住家農藥生產商，Scotts有義務確保產品符合現行法規。由於其違法行為，Scotts公司被求處FIFRA執行以來最高的罰金。」
Scotts公司於2012年2月承認於野生鳥類飼料產品中非法添加農業毒害鳥類、偽造農藥登記文件、於包裝上使用誤導性及未授權標籤、散佈未登記的農藥產品。
在另一項與美國環境保護署的獨立民事協議中，Scotts公司同意支付超過600萬美元罰款，且花費200萬美元在環境方案以解決其他民事農藥違法行為訴訟。前述違法行為包括散佈或銷售未經註冊的、已被取消或假造標籤的農藥，包括產品上警告及注意事項不夠充分。
這是聯邦殺蟲劑、殺菌劑、滅鼠劑法有史以來最高金額的民事和解。
環保署執法及稽查辦公室助理主任Cynthia Giles表示：「誤用或貼錯農藥標籤可能導致人類產生嚴重的疾病且讓野生動物中毒。本日的宣判及及空前的民事和解金讓Scotts公司為不符合法規、將沒有適當的授權或警告標籤的產品販售給消費者負起責任。」
在認罪協議中，Scotts公司承認雖然環保署已明令禁止使用，該公司仍添加Actellic 5E及Storcide II兩種農藥至鳥類飼料產品中。Scotts公司這麼做的目的是為了減少飼料在倉儲過程的蟲害。
Scotts公司承認雖然環保署禁止使用這些毒性物質，且製造商於Storcide II標籤上警告「對魚類具有強烈毒性，亦會毒害鳥及其他野生動物」，他們仍在產品中使用這些有毒物質。
在其雇員明確的警告Scotts公司管理層使用這些藥劑的危險性六個月後，該公司建立鳥飼料生產線，並販售這些含有非法毒物的鳥飼料長達兩年。
在2008年3月回收其產品前，Scotts公司已銷售出7000萬單位經非法毒物處理過的鳥飼料。
Scotts公司也承認遞交偽造文書給環保署及州監管機構，讓他們相信許多藥劑已通過環保署許可，實則不然。
Scotts公司認罪的項目還包括了出售未註冊農藥及行銷標籤資訊不實的農藥。Scotts公司的一位聯邦產品經理應為交給環保署和各州的偽造文書負責。
除了400萬美元的罰金外，Scotts公司將捐獻50萬美元給保護鳥類棲地的各組織；包括俄亥俄州奧杜邦學會重要鳥類保護區計畫、俄亥俄州發展自然資源都市森林計畫、哥倫布市地鐵-公園鳥類棲息地提升計劃、康乃爾大學鳥類研究室、俄亥俄州自然管理處等5個組織各10萬美元。款項將透過保育、研究及教育來保護鳥類族群及棲地。
在揭露刑事違法行為的同時，環保署展開民事調查，揭露許多長達五年的民事違法行為。
Scotts公司FIFRA民事項目包括包裝及行銷未經註冊的、已被取消或假造標籤的農藥，包括產品上警告及注意事項不夠充分。
環保署發針對Scotts公司超過100種農藥產品，發出超過40份停止販售、使用及下架的行政命令。
除了600萬美元的民事罰款，Scotts公司將花費200萬美元保存及保護300畝土地，阻止農用化學物質流入附近水域。
Scotts Miracle-Gro, a producer of pesticides for commercial and consumer lawn and garden uses, was sentenced Friday in federal district court in Columbus to pay a $4 million fine and perform community service for 11 criminal violations of the federal law that governs the manufacture, distribution, and sale of pesticides.
This is the largest criminal penalty to date under the Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, FIFRA.
“As the world’s largest marketer of residential use pesticides, Scotts has a special obligation to make certain that it observes the laws governing the sale and use of its products. For having failed to do so, Scotts has been sentenced to pay the largest fine in the history of FIFRA enforcement,” said Ignacia Moreno, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice.
Scotts pleaded guilty in February 2012 to illegally applying insecticides to its wild bird food products that are toxic to birds, falsifying pesticide registration documents, distributing pesticides with misleading and unapproved labels, and distributing unregistered pesticides.
In a separate civil agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Scotts agreed to pay more than $6 million in penalties and spend $2 million on environmental projects to resolve additional civil pesticide violations.
These violations include distributing or selling unregistered, canceled, or misbranded pesticides, including products with inadequate warnings or cautions.
This is the largest civil settlement under FIFRA to date.
“The misuse or mislabeling of pesticide products can cause serious illness in humans and be toxic to wildlife,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Today’s sentence and unprecedented civil settlement hold Scotts accountable for widespread company noncompliance with pesticide laws, which put products into the hands of consumers without the proper authorization or warning labels.”
In the plea agreement, Scotts admitted that it applied the pesticides Actellic 5E and Storcide II to its bird food products even though EPA had prohibited this use. Scotts had done so to protect its bird foods from insect infestation during storage.
Scotts admitted that it used these pesticides contrary to EPA directives and in spite of the warning label appearing on all Storicide II containers stating, “Storcide II is extremely toxic to fish and toxic to birds and other wildlife.”
Scotts sold this illegally treated bird food for two years after it began marketing its bird food line and for six months after employees specifically warned Scotts management of the dangers of these pesticides.
By the time the company recalled these products in March 2008, Scotts had sold more than 70 million units of bird food illegally treated with pesticide that is toxic to birds.
Scotts also pleaded guilty to submitting false documents to EPA and to state regulatory agencies in an effort to deceive them into believing that numerous pesticides were registered with EPA when in fact they were not.
The company also pleaded guilty to having illegally sold the unregistered pesticides and to marketing pesticides bearing labels containing false and misleading claims not approved by EPA. The falsified documents submitted to EPA and states were attributed to a federal product manager at Scotts.
In addition to the $4 million criminal fine, Scotts will contribute $500,000 to organizations that protect bird habitat, including $100,000 each to the Ohio Audubon’s Important Bird Area Program, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ Urban Forestry Program, the Columbus Metro-Parks Bird Habitat Enhancement Program, the Cornell University Ornithology Laboratory, and The Nature Conservancy of Ohio to support the protection of bird populations and habitats through conservation, research, and education.
At the time the criminal violations were discovered, EPA also began a civil investigation that uncovered numerous civil violations spanning five years.
Scotts’ FIFRA civil violations included the nationwide distribution or sale of unregistered, canceled, or misbranded pesticides, including products with inadequate warnings or cautions.
As a result, EPA issued more than 40 Stop Sale, Use or Removal Orders to Scotts to address more than 100 pesticide products.
In addition to the $6 million civil penalty, Scotts will complete environmental projects, valued at $2 million, to acquire, restore and protect 300 acres of land to prevent runoff of agricultural chemicals into nearby waterways.
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