DATE:       10/3/02
CONTACT:    Bob Kelly or Mike Weyman, DPR Inspectors, (864) 233-3301
WRITER:     Tracy Outlaw, DPR Director of Public Information, (864) 
            646-2144

Greenville poultry plant fined 
for incorrect use of chemical

	GREENVILLE -- The Clemson University Department of Pesticide
Regulation (DPR) recently fined Columbia Farms poultry plant in 
Greenville $1,000 for using a chemical product for purposes other than 
what is stated on the label directions.
	DPR Regulatory Specialists Mike Weyman and Bob Kelly inspected 
Columbia Farms after receiving an anonymous complaint through a S.C. 
Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) representative.
	According to the complaint, Columbia Farms was allegedly using 
a disinfectant called Vigilquat as a shoe spray to sanitize footwear.  
Most of the workers wore sneaker-type shoes or other types of 
non-protective footwear. 
	The concern was that workers were getting the chemical on their 
shoes and then wearing the shoes home. 
	Columbia Farms plant manager Jeff Monroe escorted the two DPR 
inspectors through the plant.  Monroe informed the inspectors that 
Columbia Farms had four sanitizing stations at various locations within 
the facility.  
	These stations mixed the disinfectant with a foaming agent and 
were set to spray a 10-second burst of the disinfectant at 10-minute 
intervals as the workers passed from one area of the plant to another.
	According to Monroe, if an employee were standing in the 
treatment zone when the system engaged, he would get sprayed with the 
solution. 
 	When Inspectors Weyman and Kelly inquired if the workers were 
provided with any type of protective footwear, Monroe replied, "No."
	In an affidavit signed by Monroe, he stated that the 
application was intended to sanitize the employees' footwear as they 
entered and exited certain areas of the poultry plant.
	"Although the product Vigilquat's label allows this application 
for the purposes of sanitizing floors," Inspector Weyman said, "it 
prohibits the use of the product as a boot or shoe sanitizer."
	Inspector Kelly stated that this application was in violation 
of the South Carolina Pesticide Control Act.
	Call the Department of Pesticide Regulation at (864) 646-2150 
if you have any questions about pesticides or pesticide use, or if you 
suspect alleged pesticide misuse.
                              END