Whittier : Fines for Pesticide Misuse
A spokesman for the county agricultural commissioner’s office said East Whittier City School District faces fines of up to $2,000 for misusing pesticides in an incident that led to the closure of a school for a week in October.
The district is charged with nine counts of misusing pesticides at East Whittier Middle School. The most serious charges are not following label directions, which called for the pesticide to be diluted before it was applied; not wearing proper protective clothing, and permitting students to use contaminated lockers after the pesticide was sprayed, said Cato Fiksdal, supervising inspector of the agricultural commissioner’s pesticide use enforcement division.
A Jan. 22 hearing is scheduled before County Agricultural Commissioner Paul Engle.
District Business Manager Kent MacLeish said the district will consult with the school board and its attorney before deciding whether to appear at the hearing.
The district may appeal Engle’s decision to state Agricultural Commissioner Clare Berryhill.
District workers were trying to kill black widow spiders last fall when they mistakenly sprayed undiluted chemicals at the school.
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