[News]

Settlement of EPA Lawsuit Threatens Pesticide Use in Northern California
WASHINGTON – In a development that has significant implications for the pest control industry, in ealy July the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a proposed settlement of a lawsuit filed by an environmental group to formally evaluate the effects of 74 pesticides on 11 endangered and threatened species in the San Francisco Bay Area over the next five years, and to impose interim restrictions on use of these pesticides in and adjacent to endangered species critical habitats.

The proposal stems from a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, which sued EPA in 2007 for claiming that EPA violated the Endangered Species Act by “registering and allowing the use of toxic pesticides in Bay Area endangered species habitats without determining whether the chemicals jeopardize those species’ existence.”

As part of the Endangered Species Act, EPA is required to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – and sometimes the National Marine Fisheries Service – when they make a pesticide regulatory decision to register or re-register a product. If EPA fails to do so, they are in violation of the Act; so, if a group wants to file a lawsuit against EPA for not being in compliance with the Act, they can do so and be compensated for legal fees.

 “At this point, EPA’s options are not good,” said NPMA Senior Vice President Bob Rosenberg. “They can either 1) enter into a settlement or 2) allow a judge to impose a settlement. Either way the decision is adverse to EPA, because they have not implemented the provisions of the law.”
What usually happens is that groups that file such a lawsuit will then do so again, Rosenberg said. For example, the group that filed the suit in California, has filed a notice of intent to sue EPA alleging the use of chemicals in the lower 48 states are having an adverse effect on polar bears in Alaska.

As a result of the lawsuit filed in California, pest control operators in Northern California are presented with serious challenges. Many of the pesticides that are the subject of the proposed injunction are used by pest control operators in Northern California, including all of the rodenticides and all of the soil-applied liquid termiticides.

“It’s a huge impact because we are talking about virtually every chemical a pest control operator uses,” said Rosenberg.

Another major PCO impact is from an operational standpoint. For example, it will be challenge for pest control operators who make pesticide applications in numerous locations to clearly understand what products are allowed to be applied in which locations. These and other points are included in NPMA’s “Request for Extension to the Proposed Stipulated Injuction” that the association filed on July 6.

In the meantime, pest management professionals in California are understandably concerned about this development.

“This is going to create a complex nightmare because it is going to be extremely difficult and complicated to comply,” said Western Exterminator Company President Mike Katz. “You’ve got eight counties, 11 different species and 74 chemicals and all of these different combinations. What I’ve seen of the EPA maps for other similar situations, they are so non-definitive that compliance is going to be extremely difficult and enforcement is going to be very difficult.”

Martyn Hopper, executive vice president of the Pest Control Operators of California (PCOC), said right now there is a lot of uncertainty among California pest management professionals. “There are major issues the entire industry faces, including economic issues. You will have liability issues that will arise because the maps are not precise (and thus an operator could accidentally be in violation). In many cases PMPs can be criminally liable.”

Hopper and Katz both added that PCOC has been working closely with NPMA to lobby relevant U.S. congressional members and build coalitions with other groups impacted by this decision. At press time EPA was evaluating comments it received during the comment period.

“What we’ve tried to do is convince EPA that it should take into account public health consequences when imposing any pesticide restrictions,” Rosenberg said. “In these settlements, EPA is able to make exceptions – and they have done so in the California case. We’ve tried to make the case that they need to make a few more exceptions to give PCOs some more latitude.” — Brad Harbison

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Industry Colleagues Celebrate Keown’s Remarkable Career
Omaha, Neb. — Regardless of the time allocated, it’s impossible to do justice to a pest control career that spans nearly five decades, but earlier this year industry colleagues from throughout the United States did their best to honor longtime Presto-X Vice President Jerry Keown with an evening befitting his many professional accomplishments.

Titled “Jerry Keown’s Retirement Tee-Off,” the evening tribute, held at Oak Hills Country Club in Omaha, Neb., recognized one of industry’s most passionate advocates, a man who has worked tirelessly on a broad range of legislative issues. The festivities kicked off with introductory comments by Ward A. Combs II, president of Presto-X, who worked side-by-side with Keown for many years. “His persistence in the legislative arena to protect and strengthen small business is legendary,” Combs observed.

A second-generation pest management professional, Combs said he was most impressed by two key qualities of his mentor and friend — Keown’s “unending faith in his fellow man” and “his ability to fall fast asleep at any time in a matter of seconds,” a theme that was repeated by several others much to the amusement of Keown throughout the evening.

Taking on a more serious tone during his closing comments, Combs said it’s “been a great ride” working so closely with Keown over the years and he’s proud of what they accomplished together at Presto-X. “Not bad for a couple of guys from Nebraska,” he said, his voice cracking as he turned towards Keown, clearly moved by the prospect of no longer working with his longtime mentor on a daily basis.

Following Combs on the program were several distinguished guests who traveled to Omaha to honor their friend and colleague, including Victor Hammel, president emeritus, J.C. Ehrlich/Rentokil North America; Roland Rhodes, president, Rhodes Chemical Co.; Dr. Bob Rummel, Western Pest Services (retired); Tom Moore, Copesan Services (retired); and Gene Harrington, National Pest Management Association (NPMA). Also in attendance was John Myers, president and CEO of Rentokil North America.

“I met Jerry Keown in 1972 when I was introduced to him by Ward Combs, Sr. at a NPMA function,” Hammel recalled, a chance meeting that kicked off a lifelong friendship between the two men. “Jerry was the very first — and best — friend I developed in the industry,” Hammel said. “He’s known throughout the industry for his integrity, honesty and work ethic.”

Although the years have passed by quickly, Hammel said he’s enjoyed every minute of his association with Keown. “Jerry, I give you my appreciation for your industry contributions and my gratitude for your friendship during the past 38 years.”

NPMA Director of Government Affairs Gene Harrington, who traveled from Washington, D.C. for the festivities, said Keown has meant a “tremendous amount” to the NPMA Government Affairs Committee where he has served from the Ford Administration to the Obama Administration, exhibiting “incredible devotion” to the pest management industry. “He’s really been an invaluable member of our association,” Harrington said. “Jerry really enhanced the camaraderie on the committee. He brought a sense of decency and friendship to all the deliberations.”

Commenting on Keown’s 35+ years of service to the Government Affairs Committee, Harrington said, “You will be deeply, deeply missed, but always remembered.”

After all of the kind words of appreciation from his colleagues and humorous stories about his career, Keown took the microphone to a standing ovation from the approximately 150 people in attendance. He said arriving at the decision to retire “is a lot easier than actually doing it,” but he’s looking forward to spending more time with his family, as well as golfing, playing tennis and hunting. In reflecting back on his career, he said, “I’m not going to break up and get teary-eyed,” but he did admit working at Presto-X “was my joy in life.”

Looking out at the assembled crowd, he said, “You represent a lifetime of friendships and memories. In particular, I want to thank our Presto-X colleagues who are here this evening. The success we’ve had as a company wasn’t Jerry, wasn’t Ward, it was all of us (working) as a team. This wasn’t accomplished by one or two people.” Instead, he said, it was a collective effort. “I always considered myself the team cheerleader.”

He also thanked his wife of nearly 50 years, Jerry Anne, for her support, saying she was “the glue” that held their family together, particularly when their children were growing up and he was on the road helping to build Presto-X into one of the largest pest management firms in the country. While his son, Jerry, who lives in Alaska, was unable to attend the retirement party, daughters Karie and Kellie, as well as son-in-law, Jeff Vap, and grandsons Dutch, 18, and Thatcher, 15, were in attendance.

Karie Keown, who planned the evening’s festivities with Kristen Combs-Bicaba, agreed. Combs-Bicaba is Ward’s daughter and also works at Presto-X. “Retirement seems to be suiting him just fine; he seems to be loving every minute of it,” although Keown says she misses her father’s presence in the office on a daily basis. “It’s lonely without him, but I’m acclimating to it.”

Appropriately enough, as the evening wrapped up, Jerry Anne had the last word about Keown. “He’s been my inspiration for 50 years,” she said, a sentiment undoubtedly shared by everyone who has had the good fortune to know Jerry Keown both personally and professionally throughout the years. — Dan Moreland

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PCT WINS PUBLISHING AWARDS
CLEVELAND — The Press Club of Cleveland recently recognized the staff of PCT magazine with a pair of honors at the Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards ceremony.

In the category Business Publications: Personality Profile, PCT’s Brad Harbison took first place for the PCT Leadership feature on Mark “Shep” Sheperdigian. PCT captured second place in New Media: Web Design, for the PCT Growing Your Business Summit Web site, which was created by former GIE Media designer Sean Burris.

Additionally, PCT Art Director Jim Blayney won second place in Print Visuals: Single Page Design, for “Spinal Fusion Cages,“ a page he created for the GIE Media publication Today’s Medical Developments.

The annual Excellence in Journalism Awards recognizes Ohio’s top performers in various realms of journalism. More than 800 entries were received this year.

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Texas Clarifies Regulatory and Licensing Requirements for the Pest Control Industry
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Gov. Rick Perry signed S.B. 1016 into law, clarifying regulatory and licensing requirements regarding professional pest management. Section 7 of the bill included regulation changes for the Texas Department of Agriculture and its Structural Pest Control Service (SPCS), the agency responsible for the licensure and regulation of Texas pest management professionals.

One significant revision was the requirement that any new regulation created by SPCS be tied into a part of a law — which for structural pest control is Chapter 1951, Occupations Code. “This is important because over the years many regulations that were passed were not supported by statute,” said Ken Myers, executive director, Texas Pest Control Association.

Another important change to the Occupations Code clarified who must be licensed to perform structural pest control. SPCS is a relatively new governing body that is getting “caught up to speed” on all that is involved in structural pest control. For example, some SPCS administrators were advising Texas PCOs that workers they hire to perform work that is ancillary to pest control must be licensed, which is not always the case. “For example, if I owned a company and I was doing a termite job where I wanted to hire some day-laborers to come in and trench, one of these administrators might decide that these laborers needed to be licensed; same thing for a tarp handler on a fumigation job,” said Myers. “It got so absurd that if you had a (worker) on-site to trim trees to do a termite job, (the administrator) might require that person to be licensed, too. This clears up the definition of who has to really be licensed.”

Myers said TPCA worked with SPCS and that both groups were pleased that this legislative clarification was adopted. — Brad Harbison

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Comings & Goings

If your company has added new personnel, send a photo and press release to jdorsch@giemedia.com.

FMC Professional Solutions has promoted Rick Ekins to marketing manager for all of its professional solutions market segments, including golf, lawn care, pest control and ornamental.

Truly Nolen of America has promoted Dennis Gale to branch manager of the company’s Palm Springs, Calif., branch, and Matt Vance to branch manager of the company’s Anaheim, Calif., branch.

Bug Doctor Termite & Pest Control, Bird Doctor, Mosquito Doctor, and Animal Doctor, headquartered in Paramus, N.J., announced that Joe Matera, senior service technician, has recently been assigned the duties of IPM specialist, responsible for servicing Bug Doctor’s school system accounts.

Drexel Chemical Company has named Ed Hernandez as Master Fume program manager-California.

Crystal Engle has joined the pest management division of Liphatech as Midwest sales representative, covering a 12-state territory.

Rockwell Labs Ltd recently announced the addition of Thomas J. Nay to its nationwide team of regional sales representatives. Nay covers the southeast territory that includes Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Mississippi.

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EPA Considers Exemptions for Older Chemistries for Bed Bugs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering granting a Section 18 label exemption to older chemistries for bed bug control. Under Section 18 of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) EPA is authorized to allow an unregistered use of a pesticide for a limited time if EPA determines that an emergency condition exists.

NPMA Senior Vice President Bob Rosenberg told PCT that last autumn EPA had discussions with several members of the structural pest control research community – including Dr. Mike Potter and Dr. Phil Koehler – about the need to take a look at older chemistries (e.g., organophospates, carbamates). However, it wasn’t until April’s National Bed Bug Summit, when a variety of groups were clamoring for such products, that EPA conceded that this might be the right course of action. Following the Summit, NPMA worked with the Association of Structural Pest Control Regulatory Officials (ASPCRO) to identify whether there was a need for a Section 18 and to assemble a consortium of states that are interested in participating.

“A Section 18 is a special registration that is granted to a state agency to address an emergency and it is something that EPA does for agriculture,” Rosenberg said. “For example, a Section 18 exemption was granted to solve a European corn borer problem in Wyoming.” Rosenberg said that the current challenge facing the industry is that even though both states and EPA agree on the need, there is no manufacturer at this point that has committed to produce such products. “It could be any number of reasons from economic issues to concerns about liability,” Rosenberg said. — Brad Harbison

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PCO News

Wil-Kil Pest Control, Milwaukee, Wis., is celebrating its 80th year in business in 2009. The company, founded by Henry Turrie, now employs 140 and has been providing quality pest management to customers throughout Wisconsin, Minnesota and the upper peninsula of Michigan since 1929.

In March, McCall Service sponsored the second annual “Olde Mandarin Challenge” to benefit the Mandarin Museum and Historical Society in Jacksonville, Fla. The event, which drew more than 600 spectators, was a biathlon featuring a 5.5 mile kayak race and a 3.8 mile run.

Critter Control has been ranked No. 24 in Franchise Business Review ’s fourth Annual Franchise Satisfaction Awards of the top 50 franchise systems having 50 to 200 units. Franchise Business Review surveyed more than 400 leading franchise systems, representing nearly 100,000 franchisees.

Craig Thomas Pest Control recently assisted The Center for the Prevention of Child Abuse in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., by donating pest control services to the facility. The not-for-profit agency serves more than 12,000 children and 4,000 parents, teachers, caregivers and adults in the community annually.

Falcon Termite & Pest Control, which has provided treatments for more than 100 of Habitat for Humanity’s construction projects in Orlando, Fla., will be using its own Pest Shield process to prevent termites and pest infestations to the Staghorn Villa complex, a new town home community recently completed by Habitat for Humanity.

Griffin Pest Solutions, Kalamazoo, Mich., recently earned NPMA’s QualityPro Green certification.

Buffalo Exterminating, Orchard Park, N.Y., has become a member of BedBugCentral.com’s “bedbugFREE” family of approved companies. The growing network of companies share the service philosophies of BedBug Central, have passed its assessment program, are listed on the Web site and may receive referrals as part of the bedbugFREE network.

Batzner Pest Management, New Berlin, Wis., was announced as a Top 10 Small Business of 2009 for the first time by the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce. The Top 10 winners of this award are selected by an independent panel of judges based upon criteria that include customer focus, financial growth, employee growth and relations, and community involvement.

Purity Pest Control & Common Scents Solutions, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, has added a fourth bed bug detection dog named Radar, a pure-breed Australian Shepherd from Stoverly Aussies out of Midland, Ontario. Radar, who is eight weeks old, joins the company’s other certified bed bug detection dogs: Kody, Alexa and Heidi.

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Granovsky Associates
Turns 25 This Year
BRYAN, TEXAS — Consulting firm Granovsky Associates, is celebrating its 25th year in operation, having started in April 1984. The firm is run by board certified entomologist Dr. Ted Granovsky.

In May Granovsky and his wife Claudia discovered Formosan termites in Brazos County. The find was later confirmed Dr. Grady J. Glenn, a Texas AgriLife Extension program specialist with Agricultural & Environmental Safety, Pesticide Safety Education Program, and a board certified entomologist. Glenn said it was the first time Formosan termites had been found in Brazos County. Brazos County is now the 30th county in Texas to have a confirmed finding of these pests.

Bell Laboratories
Launches New Web site
MADISON, WIS. — Bell Laboratories has launched its new company Web site at the same address: www.belllabs.com.

The site integrates the manufacturer’s roots in the U.S. rodent control industry with its growing presence on six continents. Users in nearly 40 countries can view Bell’s line of rodent control products available in their respective market.

Country-specific product pages contain descriptions and photos of products in Bell’s five major categories — rodenticides, bait stations, mechanical traps, glue traps and attractants — as well as mole and gopher baits available in select markets.

The home page also offers access to all Material Safety Data Sheets for rodenticides, specimen labels for U.S. products, and a complete listing by country of all Bell distributors. The site’s “What’s New” page is designed to help users stay informed and also includes access to current and past issues of the company newsletter, “The Bell Report,” which can be downloaded.

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Date Book

Send your announcement at least 14 weeks in advance to jdorsch@giemedia.com. For additional dates, visit www.pctonline.com/events.

Aug. 25: NPMA Bed Bug Symposium & Marketplace, Newark, N.J. Contact: www.npmapestworld.org/events or 703/352-6762.

Aug. 27: NPMA Bed Bug Symposium & Marketplace, Seattle. Contact: See Aug. 25.

Aug. 30-Sept. 2: ASPCRO Annual Conference, Denver. Contact: Bonnie Rabe 505/646-2133 or brabe@nmda.nmsu.ed.

Sept. 11-12: Service Manager’s Retreat By Discovery Retreat (Lloyd Smigel), Embassy Suites (DFW South), Irving, Texas. Contact: 888/711-3232 or terrycare@att.net.

Sept. 27-30: RISE-CropLife America 2009 Annual Meeting, Ritz-Carlton, Orlando Grande Lakes, Fla. Contact: 202/872-3860 or visit www.pestfacts.org.