EPA Gives Genetics Firm Go-Ahead for Outdoor Bacteria Tests

An Oakland firm that was fined by the federal government for testing genetically altered bacteria outdoors without a permit has been given permission to proceed with outdoor testing if a suitable site is found, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday.

In what was viewed as a major test of the government’s resolve to monitor the growing and controversial biogenetic industry, the EPA earlier this year fined Advanced Genetic Sciences Inc. $13,000 for using data from unauthorized outdoor experiments to obtain a permit to field-test the bacteria.

The company since has performed new tests indoors that it said showed the frost-inhibiting bacteria were not harmful to the fruit and nut trees used in the experiment. EPA officials said the new tests meet its requirements for field-testing and that outdoor testing now can proceed.

Joseph Bouckaert, president of the firm, called the agency’s action “confirmation of the integrity and quality of our research and scientific staff.”

The unauthorized testing of the product in the environment earlier this year had alarmed some critics, who feared that the government was failing to control the industry. After determining that the data submitted by the firm came from experiments on the roof of the company’s building, rather than from authorized indoor tests, the EPA in March suspended the firm’s field-testing permit.

The agency initially fined the firm $20,000 and charged that it had documented the tests falsely. Later, the EPA downgraded the charge to “failure to adequately report” test conditions, dropped allegations that the bacteria had produced a pathogenic reaction in the trees and reduced the fine to $13,000, which stands.

The company now must seek a site to test the product, a spray called Frostban that is intended to stop frost from forming on crops at temperatures slightly below freezing. A company spokesman said that a site will be selected in a few months. The company must receive local approval for field testing.

The EPA previously had authorized the firm to release the bacteria on strawberry plants in Monterey County. But the Monterey County Board of Supervisors refused to issue a permit for the tests.