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1. LABEL INSTRUCTIONS TIGHTENED ON FLEA & TICK CONTROL PRODUCTS FOR PETS, 2. U.S. - MEXICAN BORDER COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE CENTER, 3. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE CLEARINGHOUSE, 4. EPA ORDERS TWO COMPANIES TO STOP MARKETING INEFFECTIVE HOSPITAL DISINFECTANT PRODUCTS, 5. OHIO DRUM CLEANING COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATION, 6. THREE WEST VIRGINIA RESIDENTS PLEAD GUILTY TO ASBESTOS CRIMES FOR RELEASE: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2002 LABEL INSTRUCTIONS TIGHTENED ON FLEA & TICK CONTROL PRODUCTS FOR PETS David Deegan 202-564-7839/deegan.dave@epa.gov Due to safety concerns stemming from use of two flea and tick control products for cats and kittens, EPA is announcing that the Hartz Mountain Corp. has agreed to enact measures to reduce potential risks to pets from using these products. Under this agreement, Hartz has ceased sale and distribution of, and will implement a product recovery, label improvement and consumer education program for two pesticide products, Hartz Advanced Care Brand Flea and Tick Drops Plus for Cats and Kittens (EPA Reg. No. 2596-148) and Hartz Advanced Care Brand Once-a-Month Flea and Tick Drops for Cats and Kittens (EPA Reg. No. 2596-151). Hartz is required to recover, repackage and re-label currently available stock. EPA sought this agreement due to concerns over safety issues based on thousands of adverse effects incidents investigated by EPA. The relabeled products, which will start appearing on store shelves over the next several months, will include stronger precautionary statements and use directions. Under the revised use directions, application of the products will be limited to a single spot applied on the back of the animal’s head, thus reducing likelihood that the cat will lick and ingest the chemical. The new labels will also direct users to consult with a veterinarian before use of these products on debilitated, aged, medicated, pregnant or nursing animals or animals known to be sensitive to pesticides. These new labels further advise that cats should be monitored carefully after application of the product and if any adverse symptoms are observed, the animal should be washed immediately with mild soap and rinsed with water and evaluated by a veterinarian. EPA is also requiring Hartz to conduct a consumer education program, which will include a web site, direct mail campaign to pet owners, pet stores and veterinarians on the new safety improvements. If consumers choose to return either of the two Hartz products, the company is expected to exchange it for the relabeled product or refund the purchase price. The company is also required to improve labeling on individual tubes of the affected products to help ensure consumers are using them correctly. To continue to carefully evaluate safety concerns for cats, EPA is also requiring Hartz to submit an additional animal safety study conducted by an independent laboratory and to submit additional quarterly reports specific to cats, summarizing allegations of toxic or adverse incidents. As always, EPA reminds consumers to carefully read and follow the use directions before using any pesticide product. For specific information regarding the product recovery and label improvements, consumers maycontact Hartz by calling 1-800- 275-1414. More information on this action is available at: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides, or via the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at 1-800-858-7378, or email the NPIC at: npic@ace.orst.edu. U.S. - MEXICAN BORDER COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE CENTER Teresa Libera 202-564-7873/libera.teresa@epa.gov John Peter Suarez, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, will provide an online demonstration of the upcoming U.S. - Mexican Border Compliance Assistance Center, Dec. 4, at the National Compliance Assistance Forum in San Antonio, Texas. The National Center for Manufacturing Sciences (NCMS), in partnership with EPA and the states of Texas, New Mexico, Nevada and California, is developing the U.S. - Mexican Border Compliance Assistance Center to help individuals involved in importing hazardous waste into the United States from Mexico. The Border Compliance Assistance Center, scheduled for launch in Spring 2003, will complement 10 Compliance Assistance Centers that EPA supports in partnership with industry, academic institutions, environmental groups and other federal and state agencies. The Compliance Assistance Centers provide comprehensive, easy-to-understand compliance information targeted specifically to industry sectors. The Border Center will provide a one-stop location for compliance assistance tools, such as checklists, guides and fact sheets that explain federal environmental requirements that apply to transporters, importers, exporters, generators and warehouse-storage facilities involved in sending hazardous waste between Mexico and the United States. NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE ASSISTANCE CLEARINGHOUSE Teresa Libera 202-564-7873/libera.teresa@epa.gov EPA’s National Environmental Compliance Assistance Clearinghouse, referred to as the Clearinghouse, makes it even easier to find environmental compliance assistance tools and resources through improved navigational features. The Clearinghouse is being relaunched, after first being launched in 2000 and provides links to more than 5,000 tools and resources developed by EPA, states, trade associations and other assistance providers. In addition to serving as a national repository of compliance assistance tools, interactive features allow visitors to exchange ideas and results with colleagues on a topic-specific bulletin board. EPA and state project planning and initiative information is also available. An easy-to-use online form enables Clearinghouse compliance assistance providers to quickly link the Clearinghouse to their compliance assistance tools and resources. Compliance assistance providers and the regulated community alike will find the Clearinghouse a valuable resource. The Clearinghouse can be accessed at: www.epa.gov/clearinghouse . ENFORCEMENT WRAP-UP Teresa Libera 202-564-7873/libera.teresa@epa.gov EPA ORDERS TWO COMPANIES TO STOP MARKETING INEFFECTIVE HOSPITAL DISINFECTANT PRODUCTS EPA has ordered two companies to stop selling and distributing an ineffective hospital disinfectant and tuberculocide. Both Biospan Technologies Inc. (Biospan) of Washington, Mo., and Infection Control Technologies (ICT) of Woods Cross, Utah, were asked to recall all quantities of this product from the marketplace. The product, BI-ARREST 2, is produced and distributed by ICT and the primary registration is held by Biospan under the product name, “Dow Liquid Disinfectant Formulation 2A.” Because BI-ARREST 2 was found to be ineffective, its continued use to control microorganisms in operating rooms, emergency rooms and other public health situations may pose a serious risk to the public. On Nov. 15, EPA ordered the companies to stop selling the misbranded pesticide. The label contained statements that the product was effective against the microorganisms Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. EPA testing proved these claims to be false. EPA laboratories routinely test tuberculocides and hospital disinfectant products to ensure products marketed to the public protect public health providers, consumers and others who rely on EPA’s registration of these products as evidence they work as claimed on the label. Selling or distributing a misbranded pesticide product is prohibited under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act, which provides that a pesticide is misbranded if its labeling bears any statement that is false or misleading. Misbranding includes a false or misleading statement concerning the effectiveness of the product as a pesticide. OHIO DRUM CLEANING COMPANY OWNER SENTENCED FOR CLEAN WATER ACT VIOLATION Ronald A. Korman, owner of Barrel and Drum Service Inc., in Cincinnati, Ohio, was sentenced to one day in jail and four months of home confinement on Nov. 21 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio in Cincinnati for violating the Clean Water Act. The defendant also has paid more than $125,000 to clean up the premises of Barrel and Drum and has shut down the business. Barrel and Drum was a metal and plastic drum cleaning and reconditioning business. In his plea, Korman admitted that, beginning in 1995, his company regularly dumped untreated caustic wastewater from drum cleaning activities into the Cincinnati public sewer system without a permit. In February 2001, Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) employees detected high pH levels in the sewer system and traced the pollution back to the Barrel and Drum facility. These levels were as high as pH 13 during the hours that Barrel and Drum was in operation. Discharging highly caustic wastewater into sewers can damage sewage treatment equipment and can kill bacteria necessary for the proper treatment of sewage in sewage treatment plants. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, the MSD, the Ohio Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification, the Cincinnati Fire Department and the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Cincinnati. THREE WEST VIRGINIA RESIDENTS PLEAD GUILTY TO ASBESTOS CRIMES Elaine Mauck, Ambers Scott Rind, and Jess Mauck, all of Martinsburg, W.Va., entered guilty pleas on Nov. 19 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia in Wheeling to crimes arising from the illegal removal of asbestos. All three were co-owners of a company called “Crim de la Crim.” Elaine Mauck pleaded guilty to illegally removing asbestos in violation of the Clean Air Act and faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and/or a fine of up $250,000 when sentenced. Ambers Rind and Jess Mauck each pleaded guilty to illegally removing and disposing of asbestos under the Toxic Substances and Control Act and each man faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison and/or a fine of up to $25,000 when sentenced. An EPA Criminal Investigation Division (EPA/CID) Special Agent testified that the defendants hired and exposed untrained workers to asbestos without protection, during the removal and disposal of asbestos from the building. The case was investigated by EPA/CID, the FBI and the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Wheeling, W.Va., and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Release date:11/27/2002 Receive our News Releases Automatically by Email
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