hazards on Florida farms

[Guest guest]

PALM BEACH POST

February 5, 2006

Next to farm, coal mine a haven

By Dan Moffett

West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin last week called for all coal

companies in the state to shut down for safety checks after two more mine

workers were killed in separate incidents.

The governor ordered inspections for 544 surface and underground

mines. He also pushed a mine-safety bill through the state

legislature that requires coal companies to provide miners with emergency

communicators and tracking devices.

Gov. Manchin was responding to a spate of mine tragedies that began a

month ago when an explosion at the International Coal Group Inc.’s Sago

Mine led to the death of 12 men. Less than three weeks after Sago,

two miners died in a belt fire 180 miles away.

If Joe Manchin were governor of Florida, he would shut down the

agriculture industry.

Its safety record is worse than the coal mines of West Virginia. If

you’re a Florida farmworker, you face danger before, during and after

work and take home minimum wages for your trouble.

Since 1992, job-related transportation accidents have killed 83

farmworkers and injured more than 400, according to an Associated Press

analysis of state and federal records. Only California, with three

times as many farmworkers, had more deaths than Florida.

Most of Florida’s fatalities occurred in rollover accidents involving

farm vans loaded beyond their capacity. In 2004, a 15-passenger van

packed with 19 workers overturned on Interstate 95 near Fort Pierce,

killing nine Mexican migrants. Another in St. Lucie County killed

two more farmworkers.

Typically, large farms hire subcontractors to transport workers to the

fields. It’s a nice way for big companies to avoid liability.

The vans often have makeshift seats and are poorly maintained. Rep.

Anne Gannon, D-Delray Beach, tried to get a bill through the Legislature

last year that would require farm vans to have seat belts – no expensive,

sophisticated safety devices, just seat belts. She failed, but her

bill appears likely to pass during the next session, at long last.

Let’s say your van makes it to the field without incident. The next

danger you face is pesticide poisoning.

Florida growers use more pesticides per acre than anywhere in the nation

yet government oversight is virtually nonexistent. The state

has 20 inspectors to check more than 40,000 growing operations.

Last year, inspectors visited 600 of them, leaving 39,400 to monitor

themselves. At this rate, it will take 60 years or so for the state

to visit every farm.

The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is responsible for

inspections, which is like letting the fraternity police the keg

party. The agency has long and deep ties to agrochemical companies

and farmers. Is there any wonder that, of the 74 farms inspected

last year based on complaints from workers or advocates, the department

issued fines of just $8,000? A study by The Post found that

during a 10-year period, state inspectors uncovered 4,609 pesticide

violations but assessed fines in only 7.6 percent of the cases.

In April, The Post reported the discovery of three Immokalee

infants with severe birth defects. Their mothers were migrant

farmworkers who say they were exposed to pesticide spraying while

pregnant and working for Ag-Mart Produce.

News of the babies’ deformities moved the state to investigate

Ag-Mart. Inspectors found that the company repeatedly violated

harvesting and field reentry rules that require a waiting period before

returning to work after spraying. The state found 88

violations. The fine was a record $111,200.

Stories of chemical exposure – and the rashes, lesions, illness and

shortened life spans that go with them – are so common among farmworkers

that they don’t bother telling them. They certainly are reluctant

to tell officials.

This is another way farmworkers are vulnerable that coal miners

aren’t. Florida agriculture is dependent on an illegal work force,

and people without immigration status have a lot to risk when they

complain. So they don’t.

The Legislature is scheduled to consider reform measures to improve

pesticide inspections. There’s talk of hiring 10 more

inspectors. Ten.

If Joe Manchin tried shutting down Florida’s farms until inspectors got

around to checking them, we’d be waiting until, what, about 2066?

Deputy Director

Farmworker Justice Fund, Inc.

1010 Vermont Avenue N.W.

Suite 915

Washington, DC 20005

202-783-2628 Voice

202-783-2561 Fax

www.fwjustice.org

sdavis@...