UNION TOWNSHIP, MI (WTVB) – A Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development investigation into whether construction workers installing solar panels for DTE Energy were poisoned by pesticides from a crop duster spraying a nearby field in Branch County’s Union Township has ended with the department saying they couldn’t prove that drift from the spray was responsible for them getting sick.
Even so, yhe owner of the plane, Nick’s Flying Service of northern Indiana, did face a $1,000 fine for applying pesticides at the wrong wind speed.
The state agency launched the investigation after 23 construction workers building the solar field in alleged they were sprayed by pesticides Aug. 3, 2023. Ten reported going to the hospital.
According to a complaint, the workers were building a solar farm with contractor Barton Malow when chemicals drifted over from a crop duster spraying an “unknown farm.” DTE Energy confirmed the men were working on its 1,100-acre solar farm.
The complaint says the pesticides sickened the workers, sending them to the hospital. A 60-year-old reported dizziness, red eyes, numbness to the mouth and a headache. Three other workers experienced shortness of breath, chest tightness, dizziness and nausea. One man developed an itchy rash. Others reported coughs, shortness of breath and headaches.
By the end of the investigation, the state agency said it could not “support or refute” the claim that workers were exposed to drift.
They say none of the 18 written statements mentioned workers feeling pesticide droplets. Most of the reports were about odor. Only one worker, the one with the most severe symptoms, later told investigators he felt spray hit his skin.
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