The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) issued six civil penalties totaling $2,886 in connection with four bumblebee death incidents in 2013.
ODA issued three civil penalties in the largest of the incidents, which occurred in Wilsonville in June. In that occasion, an estimated 50,000 bumblebees died following the application of dinotefuran on European linden trees. The state issued a $555 civil penalty to Clackamas-based Collier Arbor Care, a division of Bartlett Tree Experts, for performing a pesticide application in a faulty, careless or negligent manner. The two pesticide applicators in the occurrence were each issued $555 civil penalties. The linden trees were clearly in bloom at the time of the pesticide applications, ODA said. The product label states the pesticide is known to be hazardous to bees when applied onto flowering trees in bloom and should not be used under those conditions.
The other three civil penalties are connected to a smaller bumblebee incident on a landscaped business property in downtown Portland following the application of a pesticide product containing imidacloprid, also on linden trees. ODA issued a $407 fine to Collier Arbor Care for applying a pesticide product inconsistent with its label in connection to this incident. The two pesticide applicators on the downtown job were each fined $407.
ODA also investigated bumblebee incidents in Hillsboro and at the Oregon Golf Club in West Linn, resulting in violation notices to Collier Arbor Care for incomplete pesticide application records and employing a pesticide applicator without an appropriate license. The applicator also received a notice of violation. No monetary fine is associated with these notices; however, the violations remain on the operator’s and applicator’s enforcement record for three years.
Oregon’s Pesticide Control Law establishes specific criteria to determine the dollar amounts of civil penalties ODA can impose. Individuals receiving enforcement actions from ODA can contest the notice through an administrative hearing.
In addition to investigating and enforcing the state pesticide laws, Oregon has taken other measures following these bee deaths, including education and new registration requirements.
