Pioneer fined over
seed corn mix-upWASHINGTON >> A biotechnology company has paid a $72,000 fine for failing to promptly tell the government that it found a genetically engineered corn mixed with another crop.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. was fined for its delay in telling the Environmental Protection Agency about the mix-up, said Amy Miller, an enforcement officer for the agency.
The Iowa-based company has found that 12 corn plants at a site on Kauai had traces of a crop it had genetically designed to resist rootworm, a pest.
Miller said the contaminated plants have been destroyed and did not go into the food chain.
Pioneer was cited in December for growing rootworm-resistant corn beyond its allotted field in a 1,260-foot buffer zone -- too close to other corn fields. After EPA officials found the error, the company destroyed the corn in the buffer strip and planted regular seed corn in its place.
As part of its accord with EPA, Pioneer tested the new seed corn in the buffer zone -- about 300,000 plants. That's when the company discovered traces of the latest mix-up, Miller said.
However, EPA believes experimental corn grown in another Pioneer-owned plot is to blame for the contamination. That crop, which also is rootworm-resistant, is monitored by the Agriculture Department because the plot is smaller than 10 acres.
EPA is in charge of regulating fields 10 acres or larger.
Jim Rogers, a department spokesman, said an investigation is under way but declined to give details.
Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.