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Pesticide spraying company found liable for pesticide drifts
March 8, 2022Updated: March 8, 2022 8:51 p.m.
LODI, Calif. (AP) — A Northern California pesticide spraying company was negligent on at least five occasions its helicopter pilots allowed the toxic chemicals to drift onto neighboring orchards, children playing soccer and a woman standing in her backyard, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Alpine Helicopter Service, Inc. violated the law when it carelessly released the harmful chemicals on at least five occasions between 2014 and 2020, endangering the public’s health and safety, San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Barbara Kronlund ruled.
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In 2017, the company’s toxic chemicals landed on a special education school in Lodi. Turner Academy staff discovered corrosive pesticides on school buildings, grass fields, playground equipment, picnic benches and sidewalks.
In 2019, pesticides being sprayed by a company's pilot on a pumpkin field drifted onto children playing soccer at a sports complex in Stockton. Another pesticide drift happened on the same site days later.
A year later, pesticides from an aerial application drifted onto a woman standing in her backyard in Isleton in Sacramento County....
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