The MOF&G Online Cherryfield Foods Will No Longer Apply
Pesticides Aerially In October, Cherryfield Foods Inc.--Maine's
largest blueberry grower--announced that it would apply
pesticides to its crop by ground rather than aerially from now
on. The announcement came just a few days before the company
would have faced a lawsuit, filed by the Toxics Action Center,
Beyond Pesticides, Environment Maine and the Sierra Club, for
allegedly violating the federal Clean Water Act by polluting
Maine’s waterways via aerial spraying. Penalties for violating
the Clean Water Act can be as high as $32,500 per day. Matthew
Davis of Environment Maine says that he hopes other companies
will follow Cherryfield’s lead; Cherryfield’s attorney, William
Kayatta, said that the change was long-planned rather than a
response to the lawsuit. Source: "Berry grower to halt aerial
spraying of pesticides," by Justin Ellis, ***Portland Press
Herald,*** Oct. 5, 2004. Scientists Study Effects of Mustard on
Pests Agricultural Research Service sci