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PA IDAHO PESTICIDE DISTRIBUTOR FINED $25,000 FOR FISH KILL

Release Date: 11/18/96
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PA IDAHO PESTICIDE DISTRIBUTOR FINED $25,000 FOR FISH KILL

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1996

IDAHO PESTICIDE DISTRIBUTOR FINED $25,000 FOR FISH KILL

On Oct. 30, the Wilbur-Ellis Co. Inc., a San Francisco based fertilizer and pesticide distribution corporation that operates on a national and international scale, was sentenced to pay a $25,000 fine for negligently violating the Clean Water Act when it released rinse water that killed an estimated 40,000 fish in Idaho streams. This fine was the maximum fine that could be assessed for this conviction. The company did not have a permit to release the rinse water. The Idaho Department of Fish and Game and the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality estimated that approximately 40,000 fish were killed in an eight-mile stretch of Cow Creek and Union Flat Creek in Idaho as a result of the rinse-water release. This case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division.

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