(AP) - A tomato grower accused of exposing North Carolina employees to toxic pesticides may not have to pay what was the largest fine in state history.
The state Pesticide Board will meet Tuesday to consider whether to adopt a judge's recommendation to fine Ag-Mart for only $6,000. The state Agriculture Department first fined the company $184,500 in 2005.
State officials cited the company for 369 violations, saying the Florida-based company endangered workers by exposing them to harmful pesticides. A state report that came out last year said the exposure may have caused birth defects found in the babies of three Ag-Mart workers.
Lawyers for Ag-Mart argued the alleged violations were based on misinterpreted records and that the company did not expose workers. Administrative Law Judge Joe Webster said in October that the state failed to prove its case and recommended that officials lower the fine.
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