Toxic home costs Orkin millions

By Candace Samolinski Copyright 1998 Tampa Tribune November 21, 1998

BARTOW - A couple's historic Lake Alfred home has been condemned because of pesticide contamination.

George and Carolyn Fox will never be able to return to their historic home on Lake Alfred, but a $ 2 million settlement awarded to them Friday will allow them to go on with their lives.

After a three-week trial, a Polk County jury found the Orkin Exterminating Co. liable for treating the couple's home in 1993 with the toxic pesticide Chlordane, the couple's attorney, W. Russell Snyder, said Friday.

The Chlordane contamination caused them to lose more than just their home of nearly 6,000 square feet at 7775 Pierce St., George Fox said. The home was built in 1917 by Swedish craftsmen and was valued at more than $ 230,000.

"My wife used to have an antique shop," he said, "and we had collected things for 30 years. The home was filled with antiques. They also were contaminated."

The Foxes aren't yet sure what will happen to the house, which health officials have condemned as unfit for occupancy because of the contamination, Snyder said.

Chlordane, an organochloride insecticide, was used from 1948 to 1988, when it was banned for use on food crops by the Environmental Protection Agency.

In a study this past February, the EPA found that exterminators had continued to use Chlordane for termite control until January of this year.

The jury awarded the Foxes $ 168,000 for the value of the antiques, Snyder said, and $ 200,000 for the house.

After the home was treated in May 1993, the Foxes tried four times over the next five months to stay there, Carolyn Fox said.

"Everything was just so toxic," she said.

The Foxes would not discuss any medical problems that resulted, saying their attorney had advised them not to.

They may be fortunate they weren't able to stay in the home.

In February, the EPA determined that unlike currently used insecticides, which the human body can detoxify, Chlordane can not be decomposed. It can accumulate with repeated exposure; and as it builds up in the body, it can affect the neurological, reproductive and immune systems.

Other studies conducted with tenants of apartments treated with Chlordane showed it can increase tension, depression and anger. It also has been linked to aplastic anemia and leukemia in children.

The Foxes received $ 200,000 each for mental pain and suffering, Snyder said, and $ 1.2 million in punitive damages.

While the lawsuit was pending, the couple lived in one room in George Fox's Winter Haven veterinary clinic, Carolyn Fox said.

"At least with a hurricane, when you lose everything, you have some type of closure," she said. "With this, the nightmare continued for five years. Maybe now we can move on."

Attorneys for Orkin could not be reached for comment Friday. Candace J. Samolinski covers law enforcement in Polk County and can be reached at (941) 683-6538 or at csamolinski@tampatrib.com

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