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PA MICHIGAN CITIZEN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL METHYL PARATHION APPLICATION
Release Date: 01/09/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JANUARY 9, 1998
MICHIGAN CITIZEN PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGAL METHYL PARATHION APPLICATION
On Jan 6, Lee Poole, formerly of Houma, La., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District in Flint, Mich., to two counts of illegally applying methyl parathion, a restricted use pesticide, to homes in February 1996. Poole was an uncertified pesticide applicator who had been the subject of previous administrative enforcement actions taken by the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LADF), in 1988 for applying a pesticide in a manner inconsistent with its labeling and in 1994 for violations surrounding the use and distribution of methyl parathion. The Emergency Response Branch of EPA Region 6 relocated several homes in the Houma area which Poole had sprayed with methyl parathion. Methyl parathion is acutely toxic and is approved only for use in uninhabited open fields where it breaks down due to sunlight. It is not approved for roach control in homes. When applied in homes it can retain its toxicity to the nervous system for years, and can cause headaches, nausea, vomiting, cramps, weakness, blurred vision, difficulty breathing, muscle spasms, convulsions, coma and even death in humans and domestic animals. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI, LADF and the Louisiana State Police.
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