Del Monte Fresh Produce has been fined $24,640 by the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to properly use registered pesticides at the now-defunct pineapple plantation in Kunia during 2004-05.

The fine was announced by the EPA in a press release yesterday.

The registered pesticides were Teleone II, Assure II and Diazinon 50 W Pro. Del Monte failed to comply with label directions regarding pesticide application and precautions to protect worker health and the environment.

The EPA said the state Department of Agriculture investigated the plantation following worker complaints and discovered 28 violations during inspections performed in April and May of 2004 and September 2005.

Specifically, Del Monte failed to have a certified pesticide worker apply or supervise the application and to notify workers of the pesticide applications. The company also did not provide decontamination supplies to workers and failed to protect workers from being exposed to drifting pesticides.

The EPA is not aware that any workers were injured as a result of the violations, said Dean Higuchi, the agency's Hawai'i spokesman.

"The important thing about this enforcement action is it's a reminder to all companies who apply pesticides on a regular basis to follow all worker protection rules and produce label instructions," Higuchi said. "Just as important, homeowners or anyone else using pesticides need to carefully read and use the produce properly."

Efforts to reach Del Monte officials were unsuccessful.

The settlement is unrelated to the EPA's consent decree with Del Monte and the owner of the land under the plantation, the James Campbell Co., over Superfund violations involving a 1977 spill of 495 gallons of EDB containing .25 percent of DBCP approximately 60 feet from the Kunia well.

Del Monte is proceeding with cleanup of an area of roughly 13 acres, a process that is expected to take about seven years.

The EPA announced earlier this week that it had reached a settlement with Campbell restricting the use of the land in question.

Reach Gordon Y.K. Pang at gpang@honoluluadvertiser.com.