Federal Investigation Launched After Delaware Family Hospitalized Following Vacation
By Alexandria Hoff
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – What should have been a dream vacation to the U.S. Virgin Islands ends in a nightmare for a Delaware family.
Two teenagers and their father remain hospitalized Monday night.
CBS 3 Eyewitness News spoke with a family member Monday. They tell Eyewitness News they are hopeful as treatment progresses but also hope that this helps others know and better understand the name methyl bromide.
The company in charge of renting out these condos on St. John says that within days of the Esmond family's mid-March check-in, Terminex was hired to treat pests in the unit below.
Fast forward three weeks and Steve Esmond, the head of the Tatnall School in Wilmington is in stable, but serious condition, his wife Dr. Theresa Devine has been released, and their two teenage sons remain in critical condition. All have been treated in Philadelphia hospitals.
According to the EPA, it's suspected that Terminex fumigated the room below the family's with the substance methyl bromide which with high exposure can cause quote "central nervous system and respiratory failure."
"This is a highly toxic gas that really shouldn't be used in residential areas," said Dr. Patricia Salber, emergency room physician.
More than "should not" it's is illegal to use methyl bromide anywhere other than highly restricted agricultural settings.
"Many questions remain why an odorless pesticide of this level of toxicity could be manufacturer, distributed, and applied in a residential area resulting in this family's injuries," said the family's attorney James Maron in a statement.
"It's really hard for anybody to predict right now what kind of recovery the father and sons will have and we can only hope for the best," said Dr. Salber.
CBS 3 Eyewitness News also reached out to the US Virgin Islands Governor Kenneth Mapp.
He told Eyewitness News this:
"The entire inventory of the pesticide was placed under quarantine, while local authorities and EPA personnel collaborated to determine how to remove and store it appropriately. There is a concurrent investigation underway to determine how and where the product has been used elsewhere in the Territory."
While methyl bromide is highly regulated even agriculturally it is being used on the mainland U.S. and here in Philadelphia and in Camden mainly when and where produce comes into port.
