FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ENR

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 1997 (202) 514-2008

TDD (202) 514-1888

CHICAGO MAN CHARGED WITH SUPPLYING TOXIC

PESTICIDE METHYL PARATHION TO INDOOR
EXTERMINATOR

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today charged a

Chicago man with illegally purchasing 485 gallons of the toxic
pesticide methyl parathion in Mississippi and transporting it to an
extermination service that applied it to about one thousand homes
and businesses in Chicago. Methyl parathion is so toxic that it is
restricted under federal law for use only as an agricultural
pesticide in uninhabited open fields. As indicated on its labeling,
humans exposed to methyl parathion may lapse into coma or
suffer from headaches, nausea, vomiting, cramps, drooling,
sweating, and muscle spasms.

"Those who illegally misuse this toxic pesticide to earn a few

dollars are threatening people's health and even their lives," said
Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Justice
Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. "We
will continue to crack down on those who commit this dangerous
crime, which has victimized hundreds of people and cost
taxpayers millions of dollars."

"Distributing poison in the quantities found in this case

endangering the health of hundreds must be prosecuted," said
United States Attorney Brad Pigott. "This prosecution affirms
once again our commitment to a liveable environment."

According to the criminal information filed today in U.S. District

Court in Jackson, Mississippi, James E. Allen knowingly
conspired with other individuals between 1993 and early 1997, to
illegally obtain and supply methyl parathion to Ruben Brown so
he could use it inside residences and businesses to kill insects and
other household pests. Brown pled guilty on July 24, in Chicago
to federal charges of spraying the toxic pesticide in the homes
and businesses of his pest control clientele. He is scheduled to be
sentenced in Chicago on December 9.
"State and federal cooperation in this matter has brought about
the action being taken today and I commend all those involved in
the investigation," said John H. Hankinson, Jr., EPA Regional
Administrator in Atlanta.

According to today's criminal information, in August 1993, Allen

applied for and received a license from the state of Mississippi
allowing him to purchase restricted use pesticides to be used only
on outdoor agricultural crops. Allen obtained the license for a fee
at Brown's request. After receiving the license, Allen then
purchased methyl parathion and supplied it to Brown so he could
use it for his extermination business. Allen even lent his pesticide
license to Brown so he could purchase methyl parathion himself.

The information also alleged that in the summer of 1995, Allen,

claiming to be a commercial exterminator, sprayed a Braxton,
Mississippi residence with methyl parathion.

If convicted, Allen faces a maximum sentence of two years in

prison and a $200,000 fine.

Earlier this year, two Mississippi men were convicted on federal

charges of spraying methyl parathion in homes and businesses
along the Mississippi Gulf coast. Because of the illegal use of the
pesticide in those cases hundreds of people had to be evacuated
from their homes and the federal government has spent more than
$60 million relocating evacuees and cleaning up the
contamination. One of the men was sentenced to six and a half
years in prison and the other to five and a half years in prison.

Today's case was investigated by the Environmental Protection

Agency's Criminal Investigations Division and the FBI.

An information represents charges brought by the federal

government and is not itself evidence. The government has the
burden of proving the charges at trial beyond a reasonable doubt.

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