A federal judge has ordered owners of the 99¢ Only Stores chain to pay almost $410,000 in fines for the sale of household products containing illegal, unregistered, and misbranded pesticides, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced in a press release on Sept. 15.
The fine is the largest contested penalty ever ordered under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.
According to EPA officials, the case against 99¢ Only Stores involved the sale of three cleaning and pest control products. Out of a total of 166 violations, 164 involved the sale of a household cleaner called “Bref Limpieza y Disinfección Total con Densicloro” (Bref Complete Cleaning and Disinfection with Densicloro), which was not registered with the EPA, despite the inclusion of pesticides on the label. The product was imported from Mexico and made statements in Spanish that it disinfects or sanitizes surfaces.
The other two products involved were “Farmer’s Secret Berry & Produce Cleaner,” an unregistered pesticide, and “PiC BORIC ACID Roach Killer III,” which was misbranded because EPA-approved labels were upside-down or inside out, making them hard to read, officials said in the press release.
“All pesticide distributors—discounters and high-end retailers alike—must comply with the law,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest, in the release. “This company’s disregard for state and federal law in its business practices has led to a penalty that reflects the seriousness of the violations.”
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act is a federal law that regulates the sale, distribution, and use of pesticides. Among other things, it requires companies to register with the EPA before selling pesticides in the United States. Each producer, seller, and distributor of the pesticide must also ensure the product is registered and labeled according to agency requirements.
According to court documents, 99¢ Only Stores illegally sold at least 658 bottles of the “Bref” product at stores in California, Arizona, and Nevada. The violations were discovered during multiple inspections from 2004 to 2008 by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation and the Nevada Department of Agriculture.
Calls to 99¢ Only Stores headquarters seeking comment were not returned as of press time, nor were calls made to the chain’s lawyer. A call to the local 99¢ revealed it is currently up for sale, according to an employee.
The 99¢ Only Stores retail chain is headquartered in City of Commerce, Calif., and includes 273 stores, with 204 in California, 32 in Texas, 25 in Arizona, and 12 in Nevada.
This article appears in Sep 23-30, 2010.