San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced Tuesday, along with 16 other District Attorney’s offices in California, a resolution in a civil case involving pesticide violations and unfair business practices.
The case was won against Jeffrey M. Van Diepen and Pestmaster Services LP.
Pestmaster is a national company headquartered in Reno, Nevada.
According to the District Attorney’s office, the defendants will be required to pay $575,000 in penalties.
Van Diepen and Pestmaster admitted to making misleading statements to the Department of Veterans Affairs, performing pesticide applications without registering and failing to ensure employees were trained, among other allegations, the District Attorney said.
The judgment also will require the defendants to give prior notice of pesticide application to county officials, contract out training of employees, and other requirements to ensure their compliance with the law.
Van Diepen was also required to surrender his California pest control license and is not allowed to perform the work in the future.
