Terminex nearly terminated an entire family in the US Virgin islands

[malaise]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/02/delaware-family-poisoned-caribbean/70828400/
<snip>
WILMINGTON, Del. — Three members of a Delaware family, including two teenagers who remain unconscious, are still in critical condition from poisoning by a banned pesticide last month at their luxury condo in the U.S. Virgin Islands, their spokesman said Wednesday.

The Esmonds were poisoned by the pesticide methyl bromide, which was sprayed by employees of Terminix on March 18 in the condominium beneath the unit rented by the Esmond family at the $800-a-night Sirenusa resort overlooking Cruz Bay, a resort official said.

“(The Esmonds) are great fighters and we continue to be vigilant and optimistic.”
James J. Maron, a Wilmington, Del., attorney serving as family spokesman

Methyl bromide, an odorless fumigant, can be fatal or cause serious central nervous system and respiratory system damage, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Because of the chemical's "acute toxicity," methyl bromide is now banned indoors and permitted only for limited agricultural uses by trained applicators, the EPA said.

[Xipe Totec]

1. I've worked with that shit. It's fucking deadly

I did research on pesticide identification through thin layer chromatography in the 70's. That was one of the substances I studied.

Extreme lab precautions were required.

[malaise]

7. Imagine what's going on at the low end resort if this was high end

Damn!

[LisaL]

8. If I were paying $800 per night for a vacation, I wouldn't

expect a poison gas to be included. But I guess I would be wrong.

[malaise]

11. Apparently

Geez - who would expect this madness? WTF?????

[malaise]

5. Let me tell you why

because all these companies violate the law once they are outside of mainland USA.
Expect a law suit of huge proportions. Someone is going to jail on the mainland because here comes DOJ.

[LisaL]

9. Lets hope they recover, because no money in the world is going to replace their children that still

haven't come to.

[malaise]

10. Only the mother has recovered

Now that's a vacation in hell.

[petronius]

3. That's awful - hope they recover

Such a benignly cute name (Meth-O-Gas) for such a toxic substance. Should probably rename it 'This stuff is super dangerous don't spray it indoors or around living things-O-Gas'...

[spanone]

4. i suspect these 'bug' companies are poisoning america in general

[malaise]

6. I did wonder if this is what they are using for bed bugs

Fugging scary!

[glowing]

17. Actually, they have done research on these critters.

Yes, they used to dump tons of poison in a house or room and let it sit for a month or two. Now, they realize how they are attracted to human bodies... They detect the carbon dioxide we breathe out. So now they have this box that replicates human breath and the critters come in and get trapped. No actual poisons needed. Pretty neat. I know this because I work for a hotel and our pest guys use this.

[wheniwasincongress]

19. Cool!

Those "bug hotels" as I've heard them called always remind me of an SNL sketch: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/bug-off/n10754

[malaise]

34. Very interesting

Thanks glowing

[jmowreader]

12. Here's another story on the stop-use order

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-to-terminix-stop-using-pesticide-1.1854559

They apparently REALLY LIKE methyl bromide - they fumigated some kitchen cabinets (yeah, you REALLY want someone spraying a chemical this deadly in the little wooden box on the wall you keep your loaf of bread in) and a container full of lumber with it. And the customers never seem to complain about the service.

[malaise]

13. They should be kicked out of business

Kitchen fugging cabinets -WTF????

[jmowreader]

15. Anywhere in a house is enough of an atrocity, but kitchen cabinets are really bad

Yeah...someone needs to lose his pesticide applicator's license over this. Weird thing is, the stop-use order only applied to methyl bromide. One really has to wonder what OTHER chemicals they're using and how badly they're using them. Could they be using, say, Zyklon B? (You can still get it! From two different manufacturers!)

[malaise]

16. In this day and age of deregulation and profit at all costs

one better choose their vacation spots carefully. I hope those folks recover but I fear long term problems for those two teenagers. Seriously this is madness and they must pay and be kicked out of business.

[suffragette]

14. With it being odorless, you wouldn't even have a clue about why you were starting to feel ill

It's banned so it shouldn't be used anyway, but anything that toxic should have some kind of smell added so people can't go around using it without it being obvious.

[cstanleytech]

18. I know the production was banned but does the ban also apply to using up an old supply of it?

[suffragette]

22. Looks like it does

http://virginislandsdailynews.com/news/dpnr-to-terminix-stop-using-pesticide-1.1854559


ST. THOMAS - The V.I. Department of Planning and Natural Resources has issued two orders this week to Terminix International USVI to stop using and to quarantine any methyl bromide it may have throughout the territory.

~~~

DPNR issued the first order on Tuesday, demanding that by close of business Thursday, Terminix provide all information about any use of Meth-O-Gas Q or any other product containing methyl bromide in the last 12 months.

The department also ordered Terminix to quarantine any product containing methyl bromide.

~~~

On Thursday, DPNR issued a second "stop use" order to Terminix to immediately stop using and quarantine any product containing methyl bromide and to report any use of the chemical within the last 12 months.

[cstanleytech]

28. I'm not referring to the orders they got rather to a ban based

upon the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreal_Protocol or what I thought was a ban though it appears upon a closer look and assuming I'm reading it correctly this time it was not banned but rather it was supposed to only be phased out.

[malaise]

35. The chemical is only banned for indoor use

It is still used outdoors even in mainland USA

[cstanleytech]

38. I thought the treaty was supposed to phase

it out entirely?

[malaise]

39. You may be right

bu that's what I heard on ABC

[cstanleytech]

42. They might have meant that they had

changed the rules and or the recommened application before the treaty banned further production.

[appalachiablue]

20. Saw this Vacation from Hell news yesterday, some rags reporting it's like 'Sarin Gas' WMD, whoa.

I saw genuine WWII Nazi Zyklon- B cans in the collection of the Captured German Records Division when I worked at the National Archives. Horrible-

[Curmudgeoness]

21. I ran into this chemical in Tomatoland.

It is being used here in the US on the tomato fields in Florida, and from the book, it appears that they are just as careless.

This is a horrible tragedy, and I hope that Terminex has to pay a very high price for this.

[malaise]

36. Wow

I've seen tomato fields in the middle of residential South Florida - this is scary - and the RWs want to shut down the EPA.

[Curmudgeoness]

40. That book was a real eye-opener. nt

[dembotoz]

23. folks think the way things are done outside the us is cute until somone gets killed

sad but true

when cuba is opened up for tourism i am sure a big attraction is going to be those cars kept running since the 50s.

yeah bet those have airbags.....

[Shrike47]

26. In the 50's, I don't think we had seat belts, let alone airbags.

[JI7]

24. Do these laws apply outside the states ?

[eShirl]

29. I would think Federal laws apply to US territories, wouldn't they?

[malaise]

31. Yes

[rpannier]

25. It's not as unusual as people might think

Remember Nestle's infant formula
Banned in the US, so they sold it in Africa
Attitude of, 'Why should we take a loss?'
Until the start jailing these executives, it will continue to happen

[malaise]

33. Way more stuff banned in the US shows up elsewhere

They will pay this time because it showed up in a US territory.
Look - what's a few dead or poisoned people to folks who prefer war to peace.
It's always about profit.

[Renew Deal]

27. Do US laws and cabinet level policies apply to US territories?

[Ms. Yertle]

30. Horrible tragedy

I just wonder why they were the only people affected. Seems to me there are probably many more.

[hobbit709]

32. Was Tom DeLay involved?

Sounds like the things he did when was in the exterminating business.

[malaise]

37. That was actually my first thought

[L0oniX]

41. When your vacation room turns into a real death chamber. Corporations ARE killing us.