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FRANKFORT, Ky. — Patrick Gilbert is proud of his mountain heritage. He doesn’t take kindly to people trying to rip off his fellow eastern Kentuckians, especially the elderly.
Gilbert makes a point to watch for people who attempt to sell bogus pesticide services to consumers in the more than 20 counties that he works as an employee of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Division of Environmental Services. His efforts have landed people in jail for trying to get away with pesticide scams.
“I’ve always made unlicensed pesticide applicators a priority,” said Gilbert, a resident of Harlan. “You don’t know what an unlicensed operator is using. It’s a matter of consumer protection, environmental protection and public health.”
Applicators can’t get proper products for specific applications without a license, Gilbert said. In extreme cases, unlicensed applicators may buy agricultural pesticides from a retailer and use them indoors, which creates a health hazard, he explained.
“It’s hard to believe there are people who would defraud homeowners and even put their health at risk for a few dollars, but it happens,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “As a consumer protection and service agency, the Kentucky Department of Agriculture keeps an eye out for anyone who tries to sell someone phony pesticide services or sell them a service they don’t need.”
As their coverage areas and their job duties have grown, Gilbert and his co-workers have recruited licensed pesticide applicators to be on the lookout for potential unlicensed operators. Gilbert said most licensed applicators are glad to help.
“The unlicensed operators are taking money out of the licensed operators’ pockets,” he said. “The licensed operators also are concerned about illegal operators using products that threaten human health or the environment. And when someone scams a consumer or creates a health hazard, it’s a black eye on the whole pesticide industry.”
Gilbert also has done a great deal of outreach through local housing authorities, law-enforcement agencies, civic groups, day care centers, schools, state and local government agencies and other organizations to alert consumers about precautions they can take to make sure they don’t get swindled.
Southeastern Kentucky is especially vulnerable because some counties in the region do not have licensed pesticide applicators and because unlicensed operators from nearby Tennessee and Virginia sometimes will come into the state to sell fraudulent products and services, Gilbert said. The con artists frequently prey on the elderly, he said.
To find out if a pesticide applicator is licensed in Kentucky, or to file a complaint about an applicator (licensed or unlicensed), call toll-free 1-866-289-0001.
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Patrick Gilbert
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