The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) fined a Yerington, Nev., agricultural establishment $56,320 for allegedly misusing pesticides and failing to comply with pesticide worker safety laws, according to an EPA press release.

Nevada Onion is charged with misusing the pesticides Lannate LV, Champ Dry Prill, Dithane DF, Thiosperse, Thiolux, and Diatec II during numerous applications throughout 2007. Nevada Onion failed to comply with label directions that require the company to minimize the risk of exposure by notifying workers of recent pesticide applications on particular fields, and failed to have decontamination supplies available to workers in case of exposure, the EPA says.

“EPA takes seriously the protection of agricultural workers,” said Katherine Taylor, associate director of the EPA’s Communities and Ecosystems Division for the Pacific Southwest region. “And it’s a serious violation of the law when employers don’t provide their agricultural workers with information and protections that minimize the risk of potential exposure to pesticides.”

The Nevada Department of Agriculture discovered the violations after it inspected the facility in August 2007 following reports that field workers were seeking medical attention for significant injuries allegedly resulting from pesticide exposure.