Scotts Miracle-Gro pleads guilty to selling poisoned bird seed

[bananas]

10. Oh no - I just googled for more information ... 100 birds in an aviary died ...

and found this on DailyKos:
- Two Scotts employees, a chemist and an ornithologist, warned management about it
- Scotts also falsified pesticide registration documents for Plant Food and Lawn Fertilizer
- 100 birds in an aviary suddenly died after eating the bird seed
- Dozens of field mice that ate the seed also died suddenly

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/03/24/1077430/-Scotts-Miracle-Gro-Bird-Killing-Company

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According to court documents, Scotts Miracle-Gro was warned about the toxicity of these chemicals by two employees. One employee, a pesticide chemist, approached management about these dangers in the summer of 2007, whilst the other employee, an ornithologist, notified management in the autumn of that same year. The Scotts Miracle-Gro company ignored these warnings and continued to produce and distribute their poisoned birdseed products for at least another six months, until March of 2008.

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At the same time, a federal registrations manager employed by the Scotts Miracle-Gro company intentionally falsified pesticide registration documents for two other products sold by the company, "Scotts Garden Weed Preventer & Plant Food" and "Scotts Lawn Service Fertilizer With Halts". Neither of these products were registered with the EPA and thus, both were illegally sold to the public. When the EPA contacted the Scotts Miracle-Gro company asking for the required documents and certificates, the manager then "fabricated correspondence and agency documents ... in an effort to deceive EPA into believing it had registered these products but lost its files", according to court documents. The EPA then launched an investigation.

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While a lot of birds may have died in quite because this is a product for wild birds, at least one couple lost almost all of their domestic birds:

Milt and Laura Cyphert of Lakeside suspect that Morning Song Wild Bird Seed, which they purchased at an El Cajon Wal-Mart last month, is linked to the sudden death of nearly 100 birds in their outside aviary. Only eight birds survived. Dozens of field mice that ate the seed also died suddenly, they report. The manufacturer has previously faced other product recalls and disciplinary actions from federal regulators.

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