Organic Farm Receives $1M Verdict Over Pesticide Contamination

"SANTA CRUZ, California, September 29, 2008 (ENS) - A Santa Cruz County jury has awarded $1 million to an organic farm in Santa Cruz whose edible herbs were contaminated by pesticides applied to vegetables on nearby farms.

Lawyers for Jacobs Farm / Del Cabo said today that organophosphate pesticides evaporating after application and then blowing onto the organic herbs made it impossible for Jacobs Farm to sell significant portions of its 2006 and 2007 harvests of sage, rosemary and dill.

While there are rules in place to control pesticide drift from aerial spraying, neither federal nor state governments regulate evaporative drift of pesticides."

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