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'Same old, same old' attitude at Ag Department?
by Dan Gunderson, Minnesota Public Radio
February 17, 2003

Stuart Wagenius was accidentally sprayed with herbicides in 1999. Despite eyewitness reports describing the plane, the Department of Agriculture closed the case, saying they were unable to identify the pilot who sprayed Wagenius and his assistant. (Photo courtesy of Stuart Wagenius)

Moorhead, Minn. — The Department of Agriculture says it is doing a good job of protecting people from pesticides. Environmental Response and Enforcement Manager Paul Liemandt says the records show a pattern of aggressive enforcement.

"And in those cases where we could determine facts that show something indeed has been misused, we do take actions," says Liemandt. Liemandt says it's important to remember investigators enforces the law based on facts. They can'r rely on what people think happened to them.

The basic message to the sprayer is, 'Go ahead and spray people and nothing is going to happen.' That just seems really wrong to me. - Stuart Wagenius

Stuart Wagenius says he knows exactly what happened to him, and he wonders why the Ag Department couldn't solve the case. In the summer of 1999, Wagenius was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota. He was studying purple coneflower plants on land he owns in Douglas County, in west central Minnesota. One morning, as he and a research assistant pollinated plants, they noticed a spray plane flying over a nearby field. Wagenius says they watched the plane for about 20 minutes while they worked.

"Then the crop duster flew farther away than normal, and then came back and flew straight at us," says Wagenius. "We stood up and then the guy just sprayed whatever he was spraying right on us. We were just dumbfounded. We couldn't believe that this guy had sprayed us. We could see the plane very clearly. We could a single person in the plane. He obviously saw us."

Department of Agriculture tests showed Stuart Wagenius and his assistant had been sprayed with the common herbicide 2,4-D. Wagenius says the investigator had eyewitness descriptions of the airplane. He says the Ag Department knew who hired the crop duster. Wagenius says he was able to see part of the identification number on the plane. A check of FAA records finds only one plane matching the description given by Wagenius is licensed in that part of the state.

But the Department of Agriculture closed the case, noting they were unable to identify the pilot who sprayed Wagenius and his assistant. The Ag Department says the pilot was uncooperative, and refused to admit he was spraying that day. Environmental Response and Enforcement Manager Paul Liemandt says he's satisfied with the investigation.

In those cases where we could determine facts that show something indeed has been misused, we do take actions. - Paul Liemandt, Ag Department

Stuart Wagenius is not.

"I think the Department of Agriculture is pretty lame. Here's an example of where they have so much evidence -- so many fingers pointing at the guy who sprayed me -- and they're making all these excuses why they can't find out who it is," says Wagenius. "The basic message to the sprayer is, 'Go ahead and spray people and nothing is going to happen.' That just seems really wrong to me. "

What happened that July morning in 1999 also seemed wrong to Stuart's mother, State Rep. Jean Wagenius, DFL-Minneapolis. Rep. Wagenius says she approached Ag Department officials to discuss how such incidents might be avoided in the future.

"You can't go back and correct what happened to my son. But I did want to see something happen, so other moms and dads wouldn't have to worry about their children," says Rep. Wagenius. "And the Ag Department absolutely refused to have any kind of changes made. They just wanted 'same old, same old.' That is probably the most worrisome thing to me, because this then is a situation that is going to repeat itself again and again and again."

Jean Wagenius says Department officials tried to explain why she should not push for tougher regulations. "They talked about all sorts of things. These aerial sprayers are like cowboys ...and you really can't do anything here. They have to do things fast and there's going to be mistakes and well, that's just the way it is," says Wagenius.

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