Feb. 18, 2010 - Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) pesticide specialist, David Inman, warned pesticide applicators that violating state laws and regulations is not a difficult offense to commit.
"I don't know how many times I go to investigate a complaint, and the complainant said, 'If I had just known he was gonna do this, I would have gone to town that day,'" Inman said. "'I wouldn't have had to smell this. I wouldn't have even known that it happened.' Us in the ag community, sometimes we get a bad name for something we could have prevented."
Typically, a neighbor of the applicator will call TDA with a complaint involving the death of some of their greenery and ask that TDA comes to take a look. TDA will then meet with the complainant and have them sign the required complaint form before investigating.
"What we see more and more common today, is that somebody who has never lived in the country, doesn't have an ag background, moves into a rural setting and they don't really understand what is going on around them," Inman said. "They don't understand farming practices; they don't understand the ag community. They see you out there on the tractor spraying something and, oh, the world is coming to an end. We have all been there and we have all seen that. We ask them to tell us what is going on and they sign a complaint form and tell them to show us the desirable vegetation that has been effected."
Approximately 90 percent of pesticide law enforcement is geared toward a violation of the labels on the pesticide containers.
"Well, every label on every pesticide sold in the United States has a clause on it that says 'it is a violation of federal law to use this product in a manner inconsistent with its labeling,'" Inman explained. "It makes everything on this label enforceable as law. Somewhere down there, it may say 'do not apply this product when wind conditions favor drift, do not allow this product to contact (certain) vegetation,' or it may just say 'do not allow this product to contact desirable vegetation.'"
Desirable vegetation can mean different things to a lot of people. In a typical case Inman sees, a pasture is right across the road from the complainant. In one such case, an application was made to kill the weeds.
"The problem comes in when it gets on this lady's ornamentals," Inman said. "This is her desirable vegetation, and that would be desirable vegetation in anybody's yard. The trouble is it is 550 yards from the complaints side, that's about 150 yards from the target side where it was intended to be."
This is an example of off-target exposure, and most likely unintentional movement of the pesticide resulting in desirable vegetation being contacted.
"We photograph, and a lot of times we pull a sample and send it to our state lab and let them analyze it, and they tell me what product is there. No, not what product is there, what chemical is there," Inman said. "A lot of people will show me a plant and say, 'Well can't you tell me what product killed it?'
"This is not NCIS and this is not CSI," Inman said. "We are talking about a half-million dollar gas chromatograph that has to be programmed to tell it what chemicals to look for."
There is no test that can specifically determine the exact product used. However, there is a general herbicide program that will tell the name of several common herbicides that are in a common family group, like 2,4-D.
A lot of times, though still unintentional, a legitimate crop is affected. One example was a field of pumpkins that had been affected by the chemical 2,4-D. While the effect was slight, the problem arose because the target site was more than four miles away. Inman said that is not far when referring to a 2,4-D drift.
"We have worked 2,4-D drifts where it has originated miles away," Inman said. "There is a definite pattern from the application site right to the complaint sight. I know the first complaint that I ever was involved in was in Navarro County, and that's a lot of cotton down there. Cotton is very susceptible to 2,4-D, just like tomatoes.
"There was a ranch along the Trinity River that made an aerial application of 2,4-D, and we found application of 2,4-D from the Trinity River to Corsicana," Inman said. "Every cotton field in that area was affected. Along the river it was burnt up, over towards Corsicana, it was very slight effects. That's what you will see, you will see very strong effects right at the target site, and the further you get the less effects you will see."
The best way for a licensed applicator to protect themselves is by keeping accurate, detailed, up-to-date records. Inman explained detailed records can be the applicator's best defense. For instance, if an applicator is accused by a neighbor of drift from an aerial sprayer on a particular day, their records can prove they neither sprayed that day, nor utilized an aerial sprayer.
"If it is just a drift complaint, where you have made an application to your pasture, yeah, we are going come talk to you. We are going present you with a notice of inspection that lets you know what is going on that says we want to hear your side of the story," Inman said. "Then, we are going to request your records, hopefully you are keeping records. I have had more cases where good records have proved that the man didn't do what he was accused of doing."
While there are many cases that Inman sees that are completely accidental violations, others are deliberate, such as the case that Inman described as a horror story involving the death of several hogs.
"None of our pesticides are labeled to control hogs, or any other kinds of wildlife," Inman said. "What happened, we made two phone calls when I found this. Called Texas Parks and WildLife law enforcement and got the state game warden involved, called U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service division of law enforcement and got the federal warden involved.
"What happened in this case, we got the man that made the bait, we got the man that told him how to make the bait and we got the dealer that sold it to him," Inman said. "Because when he went in the door, he said, 'I need to kill some hogs and someone told me I needed x,y and z product, can you get it for me?' and he said 'yes.' $10,000 a piece. We hit him for $2,500, Parks and Wildlife hit him for $2,500 and U.S. Fish and Wildlife hit him for $5,000 -- all three of them."
When TDA gets a complaint, whether it be a pasture, an oil field or a deliberate attempt to do something wrong, they meet with the complainant and the accused. They present the accused with notice of inspection, which is one of their requirements.
"Basically, it says we have been asked to look into this incident," Inman said. "This is your notification that you are being investigated and that we want to hear your side of the story too. Typically, if it is a criminal investigation, we are going get our evidence first and then we are gonna come and talk to you."
Inman's advice to applicators, in order to keep from unnecessary conflict, is to warn those nearby. He said as an applicator, to appease neighbors and let them know what is about to happen -- contact them before making an application.
"Say 'Hey, I'm gonna spray my pasture, I just want to let you know what is going on.' A lot of times that is all they want to know," Inman said.
To access detailed record sheets, visit TDA's website: www.agr.state.tx.us .
