Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 2, 1993 TAG: 9306020229
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUGLAS PARDUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
U.S. District Judge James Turk said evidence showed that while Orkin was on probation for the deaths the company continued to violate safety laws and knowingly failed to inform the court.
That was in direct violation of the terms of probation which Turk imposed after Orkin was convicted in 1988 for the deaths of Hubert and Freida Watson.
"It seems to me" that Orkin "has sort of flaunted [flouted] the order of the court," Turk said.
In 1988 Turk fined the company the maximum $500,000 for criminal violations of pesticide laws. He then suspended $150,000 of the fine on the condition that Orkin push a major safety training program promised by company President Bobby Mercer.
"They are better-trained," Turk said after a daylong hearing Tuesday in federal court in Roanoke. He pointed to company documents indicating that Orkin, which calls itself the world's largest pest control company, has been charged with pesticide violations at a rate of just one time in every 100,000 service responses.
Nevertheless, Turk said, the evidence also was clear that Orkin committed more than 100 violations of pesticide laws while on probation and did not tell the court about any of them, as required.
As a result Turk said he was reimposing $35,000 of the $150,000 suspended fine. He refused the government's request to place the company back on probation and impose a safety program.
Last year, the Justice Department accused Orkin of committing at least 360 violations of pesticide safety laws in 17 states since ill-trained Orkin fumigators filled the Watsons' home with Vikane, a deadly, odorless gas used to kill wood-boring insects. The couple died because the home had not been properly cleared of the gas.
At the hearing Tuesday, Justice Department attorney Jeremy F. Korzenik said the number of violations by Orkin since the company was placed on probation is in excess of 500 in more than 20 states.
He contended that Orkin has demonstrated a nationwide pattern of violating pesticide laws and consumer safety.
Orkin attorney W. Fain Rutherford of Roanoke, said virtually all of the violations the government listed were relatively minor. He said the violations weren't reported because the company was negotiating at the time with the federal probation office to limit reporting to criminal violations of Vikane-control laws. Probation officials agreed that the company was negotiating for a change. But the probation official handling the case said the company still knew it was supposed to report violations.
by CNB