ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Legal Newsline) – A business owner who had his employees pick up trash along a street in Anchorage, then apply a chemical to disinfect the area, has lost his appeal of his conviction of reckless endangerment and pollution charges.
Judge Bethany Harbison wrote the Dec. 31 opinion for the Alaska Court of Appeals, which found Grubstake Auction Co. owner Ronald Alleva did not prove the state’s definition of “pesticide” is unconstitutionally vague.
This came after he was also convicted of two crimes relating to the use of pesticides – unauthorized pesticide distribution and misuse of a pesticide.
The trial court had deferred ruling on whether Zappit 73, a pool cleaning chemical, was a state and federally regulated pesticide when the issue was brought up pretrial, allowing the parties to present their arguments at trial so the court could assess the admissibility of evidence in the context of other evidence presented.
“At trial, however, when the State presented testimony that Zappit 73 was a state and federally regulated pesticide, Alleva and Grubstake chose not to renew their objection, and never asked the trial court to revisit its ruling on the motion in limine,” Harbison wrote.
The appeals court also found warning labels on Zappit 73 characterized the product as a pesticide, bactericide and algaecide that could produce hazardous gases if applied to organic matter.
Alleva told his employees to pick up trash along a public right of way on Karluk Street and apply Zappit 73 after. Homeless individuals and the volunteers who helped them smelled chlorine or bleach and experienced eye and lung irritation.
Ultimately, the Anchorage Fire Department had to remove more than 1,400 pounds of soil contaminated by Zappit 73.