An aerial drift during a crop dusting incident in Aug. 2014 ended in a $1,000 settlement between a Beaufort County man and the North Carolina Pesticide Board.

The North Carolina Pesticide Board recently approved a series of settlement arrangements across the state, one of which involved residents in Beaufort County.

Larry Lee, of Lee Flying Service, agreed to pay $1,000 for drift caused by pesticide application during an incident in Aug. 2014. The complainant, who declined to be named, reported the incident to the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division, which administers and enforces the N.C. pesticide laws.

According to N.C. pesticide regulations, the law prohibits depositing pesticide by aircraft on the right-of-way of a public road or within 25 feet of the road, whichever is the greater distance, said James Burnette Jr., director of the Structural Pest Control and Pesticides Division. Penalties are assessed for instances of pesticide drift, sale and purchase of restricted-use pesticides, worker protection violations and for applying pesticides without a valid pesticide license, according to a news release from the pesticides division.

Settlements are negotiated based on severity of the damage or harm caused, other rulings in similar cases and a predetermined enforcement matrix and can result in suspension or revocation of pesticide licenses or up to $2,000 in fines, Burnette said.

“In this case, it was an aerial drift, and Mr. Lee is a licensed applicator pilot with us,” Burnette said. “We had a complaint that took place in Aug. 2014 in a soybean field adjacent to (U.S.) Highway 264 in Belhaven. The complainant said a mist fell from a plane during a turn and made contact with his arm and windshield of his vehicle. We do investigate many complaints per year and not every complaint we get turns out to even have pesticides, but our responsibility is to investigate. I think this is part of the regular business of the Board to consider sanctions against violations of the law.”

The Department of Agriculture sent an investigator, who took a sample from the complainant’s windshield, as well as the roadside, finding positive tests for pesticides, Burnette said.

Rita Lee, wife of Larry Lee and secretary of the N.C. Agriculture Aviation Association, said Larry Lee was half a mile down the road from where the complainant was and there was no way possible way the pesticide could have sprayed him. She also noted that there are around 15 crop dusters in a 50-mile radius of the incident.

“That particular incident, I don’t even know how it happened or if it was me for sure,” Larry Lee said. “I couldn’t prove anyone wrong. It was my word against his.”

The Lees and other area applicators have been proactive in trying to educate the public about aerial application by purchasing books to distribute to local libraries to get the word out about crop dusters and their profession, Rita Lee said. Larry Lee is also known for diluting his pesticides more than usual and flying the lower than most  crop dusters to prevent drift of pesticides, according to Rita Lee. The Lees have frequent issues with passersby stopping to watch the crop dusting process, which makes it more difficult to get their job done while ensuring those around don’t get in harm’s way, Rita Lee said.

“Everyone calls and stops and love to watch the crop dusters, but we tell them to keep the kids and (themselves) inside. When you see (a crop duster) spraying, call and find out what they’re spraying. Don’t be sitting in your car watching it. When you do that, you open yourself up (for getting hit with drift). You need to know you can see (a crop duster) better than he can see you. I’ve had Larry come back before and say he can’t spray because people are over there in the way.”

Rita Lee, who works with Larry Lee and helps with loading his plane, said the complainant wasn’t anywhere near the area in which a drift could have occurred, based on their experience with drift. Larry Lee has 30 years of experience in aerial application and conducts test flights annually to see how his plane is spraying and the nature of his drift when spraying, according to Rita Lee.

“I think aerial applicators are great,” Rita Lee said. “I think they do a very good job. I think they’re a whole lot more cautious spraying than those with a ground rig. There are more drifts from ground rigs than there are from aerial applicators.”

Burnette said settlements are sent to the county school system in which the incident occurred, so Beaufort County Schools will be given Lee’s $1,000 settlement.