Scotts Miracle-Gro pleads guilty to selling poisoned bird seed

[bananas]

http://grist.org/list/scotts-miracle-gro-pleads-guilty-to-selling-poisoned-bird-seed/?fb_ref=fbrw

Scotts Miracle-Gro products are known for zapping weeds dead. But it turns out they could be killing decidedly more attractive creatures — birds.

Scotts pled guilty this Tuesday to charges that the company illegally put insecticides in its “Morning Song” and “Country Pride” brands of bird seed. That’s right: The company knowingly coated products intended for birds to eat with substances toxic to birds and wildlife.

According to court records, in 2008, Scotts distributed 73 million packages of bird seed coated with the insecticides Storcide II, containing the active ingredient chlorpyrifos, and and Actellic 5E, containing the active ingredient pirimiphos-methyl, intended to keep insects from destroying the seed.

The company continued to produce and market the insecticide-coated seeds despite being alerted to toxicity dangers by a Scotts staff chemist and ornithologist.

And here’s the icing on the toxin-loaded cake: Storcide II, one of the insecticides in Scotts seed, comes with a huge warning label that reads: “Toxic to birds, toxic to wildlife” and “Exposed treated seed may be hazardous to birds.” Must be that a senior exec at Scotts got shat on by a pigeon one day and took it real personal.

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[bbgrunt]

1. this is damned ugly. k and r

[Baitball Blogger]

2. Support your wild birdlife ma and pa stores.

[Stephen Caddell]

3. Spam deleted by tjwmason (MIR Team)

[AnotherMcIntosh]

4. If someone has the time and energy, and if the Scotts company sold such bird seed to

the Federal government, someone can contact an attorney who handles lawsuits under the Federal False Claims Act.

By pleading guilty, the Scotts company already established certain elements for liability.

The Federal False Claims Act provides for an award of attorney fees.

A FOIA inquiry amongst the various Federal agencies that might buy bird seed could determine whether they actually did so. A response indicating that an agency did so, and the amount of the Federal funds expended for such purpose, would help establish the remaining elements.

In addition to obtaining attorney fees, and a recovery of three times the amount that the Federal agencies paid for such bird seed for the Federal agencies, a person can also obtain a reward under appropriate conditions.

Was this poisoned bird seed packaged in China?

[1monster]

5. Damn! Miracle-Gro has always been my "go-to" plant food because it is so good. Now

I have to find an alternative, because how can I buy from a company who would knowingly sell poisoned food?

[TalkingDog]

11. Horse or Donkey manure works just as well. Make a tea strain it and you can spray it on.

And most people will give it to you for free as long as you bring your own shovel and bucket.

[bananas]

12. Scotts also falsified pesticide registration documents for Plant Food and Lawn Fertilizer

See post #10.
This is so sad - and makes me angry!
I may have used the Morning Song birdseed.

[floridalawn]

18. yes and they put this off

They blamed one mid level manager for falsifying the documents but not the people who supervise her. This is a huge cover up and put not only the public at risk but thousands of their personal who applied these products through their lawn service division. Where is OSHA

[gejohnston]

16. grass clippings put nitrogen back in the soil

Why people bag and dump grass clippings and then buy artificial, escapes me.

[JitterbugPerfume]

6. so sad

[slackmaster]

7. When they see us coming, the birdies all try and hide...

...But they still go for peanuts when coated with cyanide!

[GliderGuider]

19. "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park"

I loves me some Lehrer!

[valerief]

8. This reminds of when someone in France knowingly sold that AIDS-tainted blood. Cuz they had it.

And they could make money off it. Cuz making money is the most important thing in the world. No matter who it kills.

[glinda]

9. Had a hunch that Scott's had toxins in seed. I mean, they sell pesticides and chems for pete's sake.

[MH1]

15. I'd agree, but it's probably not obvious that those brands are produced by Scotts.

That's what makes it hard to boycott a bad corporate actor.

[bananas]

10. Oh no - I just googled for more information ... 100 birds in an aviary died ...

and found this on DailyKos:
- Two Scotts employees, a chemist and an ornithologist, warned management about it
- Scotts also falsified pesticide registration documents for Plant Food and Lawn Fertilizer
- 100 birds in an aviary suddenly died after eating the bird seed
- Dozens of field mice that ate the seed also died suddenly

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/24/1077430/-Scotts-Miracle-Gro-Bird-Killing-Company

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According to court documents, Scotts Miracle-Gro was warned about the toxicity of these chemicals by two employees. One employee, a pesticide chemist, approached management about these dangers in the summer of 2007, whilst the other employee, an ornithologist, notified management in the autumn of that same year. The Scotts Miracle-Gro company ignored these warnings and continued to produce and distribute their poisoned birdseed products for at least another six months, until March of 2008.

<snip>

At the same time, a federal registrations manager employed by the Scotts Miracle-Gro company intentionally falsified pesticide registration documents for two other products sold by the company, "Scotts Garden Weed Preventer & Plant Food" and "Scotts Lawn Service Fertilizer With Halts". Neither of these products were registered with the EPA and thus, both were illegally sold to the public. When the EPA contacted the Scotts Miracle-Gro company asking for the required documents and certificates, the manager then "fabricated correspondence and agency documents ... in an effort to deceive EPA into believing it had registered these products but lost its files", according to court documents. The EPA then launched an investigation.

<snip>

While a lot of birds may have died in quite because this is a product for wild birds, at least one couple lost almost all of their domestic birds:

Milt and Laura Cyphert of Lakeside suspect that Morning Song Wild Bird Seed, which they purchased at an El Cajon Wal-Mart last month, is linked to the sudden death of nearly 100 birds in their outside aviary. Only eight birds survived. Dozens of field mice that ate the seed also died suddenly, they report. The manufacturer has previously faced other product recalls and disciplinary actions from federal regulators.

<snip>

[MH1]

13. Suggestion - write reviews for their products at Petsmart.com and other retailers

and include this brief information and the links.

(I have to work today so can't get much done. If many people do it, a lot of sites can be hit quickly.)

Next up, letter writing to the stores that sell Scotts. I doubt that we could get their products pulled? But at least let managers know. Particularly any small stores that carry it, and any trying to cultivate a "green" image, because there you might have an ownership/management team that cares about what products it puts on its shelves.

[MH1]

14. I posted a link to this post in the Birders group

Figured they would want to know. Although most probably come here as well.

[gejohnston]

17. cross posted to Facebook and

Google plus, the more people that know the better.