HomeMy WebLinkAboutPest company fined $130,000 after students at cockroach-infested school sickened - Ottawa Citizen - 10/14/2017 - Ottawa Citizen - 10/14/201710/16/2017
Pest company fined $130,000 after students at cockroach -infested school sickened 1 Ottawa Citizen
Pest company fined $130,000
after students at cockroach -
infested school sickened
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10/16/2017 Pest company fined $130,000 after students at cockroach -infested school sickened 1 Ottawa Citizen
A pest control company has been fined $130,000
for applying insecticides that left some kids and
staff at Charles H. Hulse Public School sick,
shutting down the Alta Vista elementary school
for more than a month.
Rentokil Pest Control Canada Ltd. and employee Luc Lortie pleaded guilty
Thursday to one count under the Pesticides Act in the April 2015 incident.
Rentokil was fined $130,000 plus a victim fine surcharge of $32,500;
Lortie pleaded guilty and was fined $2,400 plus a victim fine surcharge of
$600. Both have 60 days to pay.
The conviction is for discharging pesticide "that caused impairment to the
environment, material discomfort and adversely affected the health of
staff and students, and applying the pesticide not in accordance with the
label," the province's environment ministry said.
According to a release, The Ottawa -Carleton District School Board hired
Rentokil several times to apply pesticides at the school which was
"experiencing pest control problems" — the Citizen had reported it was
cockroaches — from 2013 to 2015.
On April 11, 2015, a Saturday, Lortie applied Air Guard Konk 400 Residual
Insecticide Spray with Baygon and Gardex 1% Baygon Residual
Insecticide. The latter had been earlier recommended for a Christmas
break application when about 340 students would be off school.
The following Monday and Tuesday, staff and students noticed a strong
odour and reported itching, watering eyes, sore throats, dizziness and
headaches. Both Ottawa Public Health and the Ministry of the
Environment and Climate Change were notified.
By Wednesday, students were moved to different parts of the school and
windows were opened for ventilation as school board staff scrubbed and
cleaned the area where the insecticide was sprayed.
Still, some staff and students continued to report symptoms. Ottawa
Public Health said 30 students and seven staff were absent from
school with symptoms that appeared to be a reaction to the solvents that
make up the bulk of the product and not pesticide toxicity.
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10/16/2017
Pest company fined $130,000 after students at cockroach -infested school sickened 1 Ottawa Citizen
The school was shut down that Friday, April 27, and remained closed until
May 25 with classes moved to a vacant west -end school.
The environment ministry's investigations and enforcement branch
launched an investigation and charged Rentokil and Lortie in April 2017.
CHARLES H. HULSE PUBLIC SCHOOL (HTTP://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/CHARLES-H-
HULSE-PUBLIC-SCHOOL)
LUC LORTIE (HTTP://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/LUC-LORTIE)
OTTAWA PUBLIC HEALTH (HTTP://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/OTTAWA-PUBLIC-HEALTH)
OTTAWA-CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD
(HTTP://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/OTTAWA-CARLETON-DISTRICT-SCHOOL-BOARD)
RENTOKIL (HTTP://OTTAWACITIZEN.COM/TAG/RENTOKIL)
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