Thread: 2 Immokalee farmworkers sue over babies’ birth defects

2 Immokalee farmworkers sue over babies’ birth defects

The lawsuits, filed in Collier Circuit Court, allege that Pacific Tomato Growers Ltd., Collier Fresh Co. and ATG Holding Co. ignored warnings on pesticides and used six known to cause birth defects

By AISLING SWIFT (Contact)
Originally published 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Updated 6:00 p.m., Tuesday, March 3, 2009

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2009/mar ... irth-defe/

IMMOKALEE — Maria Pedro and Christina Matias picked tomatoes in Immokalee fields before and after they became pregnant. As they worked, they say, pesticide containers burned next to the fields and crops were sprayed with toxic pesticides burned their skin. They also said they inhaled the chemicals used to kill harmful organisms.

When their babies were born, they had severe birth defects.

Both mothers contend those defects were caused by the toxic pesticides, which had clearly labeled warnings. But attorneys say those warnings were ignored so the companies could make more profits.

Matias, the mother of 3-year-old Juan Yovanni Matias Pascual, filed a lawsuit last month in Collier Circuit Court against three interrelated companies: Pacific Tomato Growers Ltd. of Palmetto, Pacific Collier Fresh Co. of Immokalee, and ATG Holding Co. of Palmetto. The lawsuit says Juan was born on July 17, 2005, with numerous birth defects, including brain damage and a cleft palate that makes him nearly mute.

Pedro, the mother of 4-year-old Dalia Estefani Domingo Pedro, sued the same defendants on Dec. 31, alleging that Dalia was born on Jan. 4, 2005, without a left ear and only a partial liver, ending in her having to undergo a liver transplant and weekly treatments.

Both mothers say their children will suffer future problems and continue to undergo treatments for their birth defects.

“Their lives will never be the same,â€

Florida's soil is chock full of all kinds of organisms that love to munch on crops. The large farms liked to fumigate their fields prior to planting with methyl bromide injections, 95% of which escapes into the atmosphere, poking holes in the ozone layer. Though it should have been phased out in 2005, who knows. And why spray pesticides when people are working in the fields? The sugar industry is no better, burning cane stubble with diesel, which puts methane into the air in clouds of black smoke.
The entire ag industry in the US needs to seriously change, especially since in the Mississippi delta and Gulf there is an hypoxic zone from farm runoff upriver the size of of New Jersey, where no fish can live due to lack of dissolved oxygen.

Like the soil in Mexico isn't? What the heck is going on? Lawyers should be "outlawed."

It got a "critical use" exemption under the Montreal Protocol for pre-plant. It's used in ship fumigation of agricultural products, flour mills, trees being transported. It's not a threat to the ozone layer. It breaks down in the atmosphere and oceans in less than 7 months. CFC's; freon are heavier than air and it takes years for it to ever reach the troposphere, if it ever does and then it would have an effect of less than 3%.

They found large amounts of chorline, but they failed to identify the source...a volcano, not far away. The truth is the don't know what's going on in about 60% of the ozone layer, but they do know it constantly comes and goes and was at one of it's lowest points in 1956, way before all these cfcs! Basically speaking it's sunlite that drives the cycles. As the "Polar Nights" set in the ozone starts to decay. In 2006, a record 'hole' was observed. It's another giant hoax which made people billions of dollars and perpetual govt. grants to "study" the "hole".

It's no greater problem know than it was in the 80's, not much has changed, but you never hear about those record thinning of the ozone anymore, even though it just happened.

Before all the bans on "ozone depleters" , the ozone layer was doing just fine and they were all making projections how much it would deplete. It never changed in the timeframes they said it would decay. Oh well, BAN the stuff anyway, we can be famous and others will get rich. It's all political.

Methyl Bromide occurs naturally in seawater and is found in some types of kelp.

These companies who hired them should have to foot their medical bills for life. Cheap labor ain't so cheap now, eh? Too bad, so sad, pay up! We shouldn't have to pay for their greed.

Are we assuming these folks are illegal aliens? I've seen nothing to identify them as such. There are a lot of migrant farmworkers that are here legally. Are they illegal or not?

If the corporate farms that hired these folks are guilty, I hope they pay through the nose!

I think whether they are legal or illegal is beside the point. The mothers knew they were breathing in pesticides, they knew the bad effect it was having on them, and yet they chose to continue working, continue breathing the stuff in, continue exposing their fetuses to the chemicals, because they didn't want to lose their job? They are also responsible for what happened to their own children. Nobody twisted their arms and forced them to work there. They should have put their fetuses first.

Steph wrote:

think whether they are legal or illegal is beside the point. The mothers knew they were breathing in pesticides, they knew the bad effect it was having on them, and yet they chose to continue working, continue breathing the stuff in, continue exposing their fetuses to the chemicals, because they didn't want to lose their job? They are also responsible for what happened to their own children. Nobody twisted their arms and forced them to work there. They should have put their fetuses first.

Their status may be irrelevant in as much as guilt is concerned, however, ALIPAC supports legal immigration.

Let's remember, these folks (migrant farmworkers), for the most part, are functionally illiterate. I realize it's easier to assign the blame to those we SUSPECT of being illegal and obsolve the American farmer of any guilt. However, I think we should consider this incident from every angle. Honestly, it's my guess that many of the migrant workers didn't actually know what was taking place until a lawyer got involved.

I stand by my original claim, if the farm operation is guilty as accused, someone (outside the migrant workers) should be held accountable. They are responsible for who they hire and the workers should have the expectation that they aren't risking their life or that of their unborn on the job.

If the migrant workers are illegal they should be deported, but that doesn't change the fact that someone in a leadership position at the farm didn't follow proper safety regulations. They are responsible, not the employee, for observing occupational safety and health issues concerning hazard recognition, evaluation, and control in the workplace.

This post wasn’t done to highlight legal or illegal status of the migrant workers though the vast majority of their workers are. A large percentage of the population which of Immokalee is comprised of are illegally in the country. That being said, the point of the post was to highlight the unethical practices of the employers of legal immigrants and illegal aliens.

I apologize for not being more descriptive in the post.

This has been an issue for years. Example links below


Parents of child born without limbs settle with tomato grower (diffrent lawsuit)

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/mar ... omato-gro/

New MIDAS pesticide a touchy issue for worker advocates, scientists
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2007/nov ... dvocates_/

Region’s growers worry about new EPA rules for soil treatment
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/aug ... -soil-tre/