US govt fines Terminix $10M in USVI toxic pesticide case

(AP) – The U.S. government has fined Terminix companies $10 million after it sprayed a toxic pesticide at a U.S. Virgin Islands resort that nearly killed a vacationing family.

The Justice Department said Tuesday that the pest control company was charged with illegally using methyl bromide at 13 residences and one resort in the U.S. Virgin Islands in recent years. Officials said Terminix has agreed to pay the fine and has stopped using the pesticide in the U.S. mainland and its territories.
    
A Terminix spokesman did not immediately return a message for comment.
    
The EPA banned methyl bromide for residential use in 1984. Federal officials began investigating the use of the chemical after a Delaware family vacationing in the island of St. John was poisoned in March 2015.