The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fined a New Mexico pest control company $650 – the maximum penalty for first-time offenders applying registered “general use” pesticides – for allegedly using pesticides contrary to label requirements at a daycare center on Navajo Nation lands.

The pesticide was applied to an occupied classroom, contrary to label directions.  The “company’s failure to apply the pesticide correctly may have put children at risk,” said Katherine Taylor, associate director of the Communities and Ecosystems Division in the EPA’s Pacific Southwest region. “Companies must ensure employees applying pesticides protect people from exposure by following all label requirements.”

The Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency discovered the violation during a routine inspection in October, 2008. Navajo Nation inspectors are authorized to inspect for violations of both Navajo and federal pesticide laws.