Sonoma County is among dozens of plaintiffs to settle an environmental lawsuit brought against three pest control companies for violating state pesticide, hazardous waste and customer records privacy laws.
The case, filed in Contra Costa County Superior Court, accused Clark Pest Control of Stockton, Crane Pest Control and Orkin Services of California of unlawfully disposing of pesticides and hazardous wastes in company waste bins headed to municipal landfills that were not authorized to accept that waste. It also accused the companies of failing to shred customer records containing confidential information before disposing of them.
As part of the settlement agreement, the three companies agreed to pay a total $3.15 million, including $2 million in civil penalties. The remaining $1.1 million will cover supplemental environmental compliance projects, investigative costs and compliance measures.
The companies also agreed to comply with a series of monitoring and training requirements. Those requirements include cooperating with annual dumpster audits performed by a third-party auditor at a minimum of 10% of facilities for five years; requiring all facility employees to complete a pesticide waste and hazardous waste training program; and devoting a minimum of 2,000 hours per year to enhanced waste management oversight and compliance.
Sonoma County was one of at least 20 municipalities, including Alameda, Solano and Contra Costa counties, named as plaintiffs in the case.
"Our Environmental and Consumer Law Division is working with other district attorneys' offices throughout California to ensure that businesses comply with environmental protection laws to preserve our natural resources and to ensure confidentiality of protected consumer information," Sonoma County District Attorney Carla Rodriguez said in a press release.
Between March 2021 and February 2022 district attorneys' investigators carried out a series of undercover waste inspections and discovered thousands of toxic, ignitable and corrosive pesticide and hazardous waste items were being disposed unlawfully, the release said. The items included containers of pesticide liquids, powders, foams, baits, pellets, aerosol sprays, batteries, e-waste, hand sanitizer, caulking, adhesives and facility cleaning solutions.
The inspections were conducted at 22 separate Clark and Orkin facilities.
Investigators also determined the companies were improperly disposing of customer records containing personal information, including customer service orders, contracts, invoices and route reports.
The case judgement noted the companies named in the suit cooperated with the investigation.
All three companies are owned by Rollins, Inc. a Georgia-based company that owns several pest, termite and wildlife control companies around the world.
Rollins, Inc. owns over 70 facilities in California, according to the Sonoma County District Attorney's Office.
Echoing the judgement, an Orkin spokesperson said the companies cooperated with prosecutors upon learning of the investigation.
"Since that time, we have improved our operational and service processes and policies to better reflect the highest industry standards. As the industry leader, we look forward to continuing to support our current and future customers in California to help them manage their pest control needs," read a statement, issued on behalf of all three companies.