First Malathion-Related Lawsuit Settled in Florida; Settlement Resulted From the Aerial Application of Malathion as Part of the 1997 Florida Medfly Eradication Program.

Legal Editors & Environmental Writers

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 2, 2000

The first successful lawsuit involving property damages resulting from the aerial spraying of malathion as part of the 1997 Medfly Eradication Program was settled today in the Tenth Judicial Circuit Court in Polk County, Florida.

The settlement comes after a November 1999 report released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recommended that federal and state officials find alternatives other than malathion to fight the Medfly. The CDC said 230 people reported getting sick after the pesticide was released from helicopters and airplanes throughout nine counties in Florida during the Medfly Eradication Program in Florida. Malathion was cited by the CDC as the probable cause of sickness in numerous reported cases. An estimated 2 million people lived and worked in the spray zone, which included neighborhoods and cities in nine counties in Florida.

The settlement also comes at a time when New York City officials are debating health risks associated with the spraying of malathion. Malathion, along with two other pesticides, were sprayed over the city last summer to eradicate the West Nile virus carried by mosquitoes that allegedly killed seven people. Officials fear the virus might resurface in the area this summer and are looking for alternatives other than pesticide spraying to eliminate the virus that is carried by mosquitoes.

The property damage case, Nicholas Ruys and Pauline Ruys vs. The Automobile Insurance Company of Hartford, is the first known case in the State of Florida wherein a confidential monetary settlement was entered into as a result of the 1997 Medfly Eradication Program.

According to the plaintiff's attorney, Bryan McMinn of Morgan, Colling & Gilbert, the case involved property contamination from malathion damage to the Ruys' home. The Ruys' claim was against their insurance company to have their home remediated as a result of malathion drifting onto their property.

According to McMinn, a private crop duster was contracted by a citrus grower owner to spray the 10-acre grove to the west of the Ruys' residential property in October 1997. McMinn explained that during the spraying, the contaminated malathion drifted onto the Ruys' residential property thereby making their home uninhabitable.

"The crop duster sprayed Fyfanon ULV, Malathion, which was approved and used by the State and USDA for all Medfly Eradication Programs," said McMinn. "The malathion, which is toxic to humans, had been stored at temperatures above the label requirements. This product, when stored above 77 degrees, rapidly converts to contaminant metabolites which are vastly more toxic than malathion and are extremely dangerous to humans."

"A toxicologist, a medical toxicologist and an immunologist recommended that the Ruys leave their home as a result of this contamination to avoid continued exposure to neurotoxic poisons found in their home," said McMinn. "A chemical survey of the Ruys' home revealed malathion and its toxic metabolite, malaoxon, in 28 of the 40 samples taken from my clients' home. It is the Ruys' intention to demolish their former home and rebuild a new one."