DuPont failed to immediately notify EPA of research indicating that substantial risk existed.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – EPA – today announced a settlement with the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company – a large auto industry supplier – for violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. DuPont will pay a $1,.8 million penalty to resolve “allegations” that the company failed to submit reports to EPA about potential adverse effects of an herbicide product called Imprelis, and sold it with labeling that did not ensure its safe use.
When customers applied Imprelis, it led to widespread death and damage to trees, according to EPA.
During the EPA registration process and after it was approved for Imprelis, an herbicide intended to control weeds such as dandelions, clover, thistle, plantains and ground ivy, DuPont failed to submit 18 reports.
As a result, Imprelis did not adequately protect against damage to certain tree species. DuPont made 320 shipments of Imprelis to distributors in 2010 and 2011. The failure to submit reports and the sale or distribution of a misbranded pesticide or herbicide are violations of FIFRA.
DuPont has now submitted more than 7,000 reports to EPA of damage or death of trees – primarily Norway spruce and white pine – related to the application of Imprelis. Test data from DuPont, EPA says, confirms that coniferous trees can be damaged or killed by the application of Imprelis. There is also evidence, says EPA, that non-coniferous trees such as maple, honey locusts, lilacs, sycamores, and alders are susceptible to damage from Imprelis.
Starting in June 2011, EPA began receiving complaints from state pesticide agencies regarding damage to trees related to the use of Imprelis. Cases of tree damage and death from Imprelis were widespread in the Midwest, especially Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Indiana investigated more than 400 cases of tree damage related to Imprelis in 2011.
Why it took the EPA so long to act is an unanswered question.
