Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Bayer CropScience Announces Layoffs
WEST VIRGINIA....
Bayer CropScience announced Tuesday that it plans to begin curtailing production of several pesticide products at its Institute plant in Kanawha County, resulting in the loss of 220 jobs over the next two years. In cooperation with the Environmental Protection Agency, the company had announced plans in August 2010 to stop producing Aldicarb, the active ingredient in its Temik brand pesticide used on crops such as potatoes and citrus fruits. The chemical no longer meets EPA’s food safety standards. Aldicarb at levels higher than those typically found in food can cause sweating, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea. MIC, methyl isocyanate, will also be removed from the Institute plant. Bayer plans to stop production of Aldicarb by the end of the second quarter of 2012. A federal ban takes effect in 2014, and Bayer has put their plan in motion to comply with that ban.