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Witnesses tell Vermont panel professionals should control rodenticides; non‑toxic traps offered as alternatives
Summary
At a Vermont committee hearing on bill H.326, industry and vendor witnesses told lawmakers that anticoagulant rodenticides are a critical tool for protecting food safety when used by certified professionals, while presenting CO2‑powered and mechanical traps as toxin‑free alternatives that have operational limits.
At a committee hearing in Montpelier, Christopher Sweezy, region director for RK Environmental Services, told lawmakers that proposed restrictions in bill H.326 could limit the pest‑control tools food processors rely on and increase food‑safety risks.
Sweezy said RK Environmental Services, which he said works primarily for the food industry and serves customers in 33 states, relies on anticoagulant rodenticides as a first line of defense in food facilities. “These products should not be available to the general public,” he said, adding that rodenticides “should not be sold on the Internet” and “should not be in the hands of anyone other than the professionals.” He said his company is requiring its field technicians to become certified pesticide applicators and that certification and locked, anchored bait stations are part of how professionals manage non‑target risk.
The central concern raised by Sweezy was a tradeoff between environmental harms…
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