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Environmental Laboratories, Inc. and Termarid LLC Settle Pesticide Violations

Release Date: 1/23/2002
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

Bonnie Smith, (215) 814-5543

PHILADELPHIA – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that two Maryland companies have settled alleged federal pesticide violations related to the manufacture and sale of a mulch product treated with a termiticide.

Environmental Laboratories, Inc., of Pikesville and Termarid LLC of North East, the manufacturer and distributor of “Term-A-Rid 613," will pay a $23,156 penalty for alleged violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

This law requires pesticide products and manufacturing facilities to be registered with EPA – a safeguard against dangerous pesticide products, and false, misleading, or unverifiable product claims. The federal pesticide law also requires product claims and labels to be registered with EPA, and prohibits the distribution or sale of unregistered, misbranded, improperly labeled, or adulterated pesticides.

The settlement resolves violations uncovered last year by the Maryland Department of Agriculture. In investigating a consumer complaint that the Term-A-Rid 613 had damaged plants, agriculture officials discovered that the product’s registration required it to be sold
in containers sized from 20 to 500 pounds with an EPA-approved label with warnings and directions for use. Investigators discovered that from August 1999 through August 2000, the product was not properly packaged or labeled.

EPA also cited the company for selling the product with an unregistered claim
(“the active ingredient in Term-A-Rid 613 mulch will remain effective as long as the mulch itself lasts”), and for failing to report several consumer complaints about damage to shrubs, trees, and plants.

As part of the settlement, the companies neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations. However, the companies have agreed to cease selling or distributing
Term-A-Rid 613 except in compliance with applicable regulatory requirements.