Clemson says crop dusting near elementary school was done legally

COLUMBIA, SC Clemson University did not find that any laws were broken when a crop-dusting plane sprayed a mega-farm while children were attending a nearby school two months ago.

The university issued a statement Friday afternoon saying the crop-dusting application was “performed in a lawful manner’’ after investigators checked to see if pest-killing materials were properly applied by the crop duster.

But the statement provided few other details, and university officials were not available for comment.

Missing from the statement was whether an odor that disturbed the school April 26 came from a crop-dusting plane flying in the area that day, or if any fungicides and pesticides escaped onto surrounding property.

Crop-dusting has been an issue in the upper Edisto basin between Aiken and Columbia since large, industrial-scale crop farms began to locate in the area about four years ago. All told, out-of-state farm corporations have acquired about 10,000 acres in the area and converted forests to extensive growing fields, The State newspaper reported in April.

Many concerns have centered on how much water mega-farms are taking to irrigate potatoes and corn, but some people in the community also have complained of low-flying crop-dusting planes and chemicals drifting onto their property.

In the April 26 school case, Aiken officials sent some students to other parts of the school after noticing a strange odor inside Oakwood Windsor Elementary. The school also notified parents. School officials initially blamed crop-dusting in the area for the odor, although they later toned down their comments.

No injuries were reported by school officials that day, but the parent of one child complained to Clemson on May 1, prompting the university to launch an investigation. Crop-dusting was being done on an expansive vegetable farm next to the Oakwood Windsor school east of Aiken. Clemson is the state agency designated to investigate pesticide complaints in South Carolina.

Farmers who run industrial-scale crop-growing operations have declined comment, but the S.C. Farm Bureau has said it did not believe university investigators would find any problems. A man who identified himself as the crop-duster told The State this spring the odor came from rotting material in a pit across the street from the school, not his plane.

Jon Tuttle and Nilda Burke, who both live near industrial-scale farms, said the conclusion of the Aiken school probe does not settle all the questions about crop-dusting in the area.

Tuttle said he has spoken with Clemson about chemicals he said drifted onto his car from a crop-dusting plane this past spring. Tuttle said he felt sick afterward.

“I don’t know that this is necessarily over,’’ Burke said.

Crop-dusting is the practice of spraying fertilizers, pesticides and fungicides from airplanes onto large crop fields. The chemicals are designed to kill bugs and plants, but they also can have toxic effects on people and wildlife if crop-dusting is not properly controlled. Scientific American, a respected national magazine, has called drifting pesticides an “insidious threat’’ to people and wildlife.

Crop-dusting sometimes occurs on industrial scale farms because there is so much ground to cover. Smaller farms often spray crops from the ground.

The concern about crop-dusting in the vicinity of schools prompted state Rep. Bill Taylor, R-Aiken, to file a bill that would ban the practice near schools while they are in session. Lawmakers will consider the bill when they return for the 2018 session in January.

This story was originally published June 16, 2017 at 8:18 PM with the headline "Clemson says crop dusting near elementary school was done legally."