Progressive Nutrition to Pay $125,000 for Federal Pesticide Violations

Progressive Nutrition, a pesticide producer in Norfolk, Neb., has agreed to pay a civil penalty totaling $125,000 to settle allegations related to the unregistered production and distribution of misbranded and unregistered pesticides in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA).

US EPA conducted an inspection of the company’s Norfolk, Neb., facility in September 2011. The inspection revealed that in 2010 and 2011, the company manufactured 10 pesticide products at the facility. At the time of the pesticide production, the company’s facility was not registered as a pesticide-producing establishment as required by FIFRA regulations.

On at least 63 occasions in 2010 and 2011, the company sold unregistered and misbranded pesticides, violating FIFRA regulations. The pesticides were not registered with EPA as required by FIFRA regulations. The pesticide labels did not contain a valid EPA registration number, directions for use, or storage and disposal instructions, among other violations, resulting in the sale of misbranded pesticides.

Under FIFRA, distributors of pesticides must ensure that the information on their products’ labels contains the same required cautionary information as found on the labels filed with EPA by the pesticides’ registrants, and that those pesticides are not distributed with claims that differ from the registration information filed with EPA. Production facilities must also be registered in addition to the actual pesticides being produced.

As a part of the settlement, Progressive Nutrition has certified that it is now in compliance with FIFRA and its regulations.