Victims of the tree-killing herbicide
Undoing the damage done by Imprelis won’t be easy or cheap. One Michigan landscaper who treated 3,000 properties with Imprelis in May told the Free Press his clients’ trees started dying in June.
“It’s horrible,” said Terry Wagenschutz of Wagenschutz Lawn Spraying. “It’s an absolute nightmare.”
Even if his insurance pays for Imprelis-damaged trees, Wagenshutz says he could face deductibles for each replacement. That could cost him well over $100,000.
A DuPont spokesperson told the Free Press that the company is working out a return and refund program that it hopes to start soon. She also said the company has sent out 20 arborist companies to evaluate “our customers’ problems.”
A number of questions remain unanswered, including how damaged and dead trees will be valued. Landscapers like Wagenshutz said they can’t afford to lose their customers’ business while they wait for the company to announce its plan.
Jerry Richart, a property owner in Troy, Michigan, told the Free Press he’s giving his lawn care service a chance to make things right, and doesn’t trust DuPont. He wants comparable trees for the 40-foot evergreens that are dying on his property, and he wants everything paid for, including the removal of the dead trees and planting of new ones. Richart noted that his trees fit in the trunk of the car when he purchased them, and expressed doubts that he would be able to find 40-foot replacements.
Some Imprelis victims have already looked to the courts for recourse. As we reported previously, at least 18 Imprelis lawsuits are pending in federal courts in Delaware, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wisconsin. The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation announced last week that it will convene a hearing on September 27 to consider consolidation of Imprelis lawsuits in a single federal court.
The national law firm of Parker Waichman LLP has filed around a dozen Imprelis lawsuits in several Midwestern states. According to
