Sprayed Apples Can’t Be Sold, EPA Decides : Agriculture: The agency refuses to put a tolerance level on a fungicide sprayed on $10 million worth of Granny Smith apples.

The Environmental Protection Agency has refused to set an acceptable tolerance level for a fungicide sprayed on 100 million Granny Smith apples in California last year, meaning that about $10 million worth, now in cold storage, cannot be sold.

The announcement by the federal environmental agency came more than five months after the Food and Drug Administration confiscated a shipment of the apples treated with the fungicide Bortran. The seizure of the apples, owned by Metwest Agri Business of Del Rey, Calif., triggered an investigation by federal authorities and officials of the Food and Agriculture Department in Sacramento.

Bortran, the trade name for DCNA, is approved for use on about 20 food crops, but not yet for the tart Granny Smith apples favored by pie makers.

After the confiscation of the shipment by FDA, Metwest put the 66,000 40-pound cartons and 48,000 bins of apples in storage and tried unsuccessfully to reduce the Bortran below detectable levels, state officials said Monday.

In February, Nor Am Chemical Co., the manufacturer of the fungicide, asked the EPA to retroactively set an acceptable tolerance level, which would have permitted the crop to be sold. In its announcement Monday, EPA said it had declined to set a tolerance level because there was insufficient data on which to base a decision.

Metwest Agri Business, a subsidiary of Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. of New York, acquired the crop from Metzler Agricultural Services of Del Rey after it had already been sprayed with Bortran.

While the petition for a tolerance limit has been pending before the EPA, California officials have conducted their own investigation, which could lead to fines or criminal actions.

Officials said there is no indication that the spraying rendered the apples dangerous.

Mario Viveros, a farm adviser with the UC Cooperative Extension, said he knows of no apple growers who use Bortran on their trees. When he read of Metwest’s apples being confiscated five months ago, “it was a real surprise to me.”

Bortran is “not used at all to my knowledge,” said Viveros, who specializes in tree crops such as apples and almonds. “The laws are so strict. We should never use a pesticide if the crop is not included on the label of the pesticide.”

Metwest Agri Business officials could not be reached for comment Monday.

Times staff writer Maria L. La Ganga in Los Angeles contributed to this story.