Daily News Archive
From April 12, 2002

Fifteen Years After Illegal Pesticide Incineration, Company Fails to Clean-up Site

This picture of an open incineration of over 50 pesticide containers, some empty, some not, was sent to us by Debbie McQueen of Phoenix, Arizona. This unlawful incineration took place at a since abandoned crop-dusting facility located at 2019 W. McDowell Road, Goodyear, Arizona, known as the "new" Marsh site, run by the Marsh Aviation crop-dusting company.

Following an inspection and soil sampling results, state environmental officials deemed the site "grossly contaminated by any standards." Marsh Aviation was subsequently cited for nine violations of state and federal hazardous waste laws and ordered to clean up the site, which was abandoned in 1988.

Today, 15 years later, the state has yet to enforce its compliance order. The cropduster, meanwhile, continues to do business under a new name from a new leased location atop a superfund site, and despite its history of non-compliance, recently won multi-million dollar contracts with the U.S. government.

Debbie McQueen and her family continue to suffer serious health effects including rheumatoid arthritis and other physical impairment attributable to pesticide exposure.