Dollar store fined big by EPA

They may cut shoppers a deal, but 99 Cent Only stores are drawing fire from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to media reports.

The superstore was recently fined more than $400,000 by the EPA for selling products between 2004 and 2008 that contained unregistered and misbranded pesticides that were not approved by the agency. Out of the 166 violations found, 164 of them involved stocking their shelves with a household cleaner called Bref Complete Cleaning and Disinfection with Densicloro, a product from Mexico that is labeled in Spanish and claims to be registered with the EPA but is not.

The two other illegal products were Farmer’s Secret Berry & Produce Cleaner and PiC BORIC ACID Roach Killer III, which were unregistered and misbranded, respectively.

The stores are located in California, Arizona, Nevada and Texas, with more than 200 stores in California. Chico’s 99 Cent Only Store is located on Notre Dame Boulevard near Home Depot.