Bumblebee incidents result in pesticide violations in Oregon, Dec. 23

The Oregon Department of Agriculture has completed its investigations into four separate incidents that resulted in bumblebee deaths this summer in Wilsonville, Hillsboro, West Linn, and downtown Portland. Investigations performed by ODA’s Pesticides Program centered on the use of pesticide products containing two active ingredients, dinotefuran and imidacloprid. ODA’s findings identified violations of the Oregon Pesticide Control Law.  ODA has issued six civil penalties totaling $2,886 in connection with the incidents. Oregon’s Pesticide Control Law establishes specific criteria to determine the dollar amount of civil penalties ODA can impose. Individuals receiving enforcement actions from ODA can contest the notice through an administrative hearing.  Three civil penalties being issued are connected to the largest of the bumblebee incidents, which took place in Wilsonville in June. In that incident, an estimated 50,000 bumblebees died following the application of dinotefuran on European linden trees. The other three civil penalties are connected to a smaller bumblebee incident on a landscaped business property in downtown Portland following the application of a pesticide product containing imidacloprid, also on linden trees.