TULARE COUNTY: Company to Pay for Pesticide Sickness
In a letter to Tulare County Agricultural Commissioner Lenord Craft, the Wilbur-Ellis Co. agreed to pay the medical bills for people sickened by a "pesticide drift," the Contra Costa Times reports. According to the letter, people "who required medical treatment as a result of their alleged exposure" can forward their bills to Craft's office so that Wilbur-Ellis representatives may review them and prepare reimbursement. Last month, the firm sprayed metam sodium over a potato field, resulting in a chemical drift to residential Earlimart. The drift forced an evacuation of 150, sending 21 area residents to the hospital. The letter stated, however, that the company will only reimburse individuals who received medical treatment before Dec. 1. Craft's office has yet to complete an investigation of the incident, so neither the firm nor the grower have been blamed for the incident (AP/Contra Costa Times, 12/16).
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