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MISSISSIPPI MAN CONVICTED OF PESTICIDE MISUSE
Release Date: 03/21/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 1997
MISSISSIPPI MAN CONVICTED OF PESTICIDE MISUSE
On March 13, Dock Eatman, Sr. of Moss Point, Miss., was convicted by a jury in U.S. District Court in Biloxi, Miss., on 21 counts of knowingly spraying the pesticides methyl parathion and Ambush in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Eatman did not possess a license for the commercial application of the pesticides when he applied them in homes and other facilities in the Pascagoula, Miss., area in 1995 and 1996. Methyl parathion and Ambush are powerful pesticides which are only approved for outdoor agricultural uses in uninhabited fields. Exposure to methyl parathion can produce convulsions, coma and death. Paul Walls, an associate of Eatman, has been charged with 45 counts of illegal pesticide application and three counts of illegally distributing methyl parathion. Walls’ trial is scheduled for April. When sentenced, Eatman faces a maximum of 21 years in prison and/or up to $2.1 million in fines. This case is being investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and authorities from the state of Mississippi.
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