For parents, the fear of losing a child is one of their worst nightmares. Unfortunately for Peter and Martha Balderas of Amarillo, this nightmare became a reality when four of their children were “killed in an accidental poisoning” at their home back in January. As a result, the grieving parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against “the maker of a pesticide that caused the deaths and also against the person who provided the chemical.”
For parents, the fear of losing a child is one of their worst nightmares. Unfortunately for Peter and Martha Balderas of Amarillo, this nightmare became a reality when four of their children were “killed in an accidental poisoning” at their home back in January. As a result, the grieving parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against “the maker of a pesticide that caused the deaths and also against the person who provided the chemical.”
The lawsuit itself was filed in Potter County district court, and according to the suit, the parents allege that “United Phosphorus, an international agrochemical company, was negligent in the way it packaged Weevil-Cide — a fumigant, or gaseous pesticide.” Additionally, the couple claims the “product did not include adequate bilingual instructions or warnings, which led to Peter Balderas — who does not read English — improperly spreading pellets of the fumigant under his home for pest control.”
In addition to United Phosphorus, the lawsuit also names Isidro Ulloa, a resident of Amarillo, for negligence “in failing to properly warn and instruct the plaintiffs about the product.” It turns out that though Ulloa was not a licensed fumigator, he still provided the pesticide that killed the children,” according to the lawsuit.
When commenting on the matter, Kelly Puls, the attorney for the Balderases, said:
“This is one of the most horrible tragedies that I’ve seen practicing law. For a family to lose four children, ages seven to 17, it’s just horrific…A company should be held accountable for proper warnings, and when they give certain warnings they should be warnings that everyone can understand.”
But what happened exactly to lead to such a tragedy? For starters, Peter Balderas, after receiving the pesticide from Ulloa, spread it beneath his home to tackle pests. Later he “crawled underneath his home and attempted to wash away the Weevil-Cide, when the addition of water released toxic phosphine gas.” As a result, “four of the eight Balderas children died, and the remaining four were injured after inhaling the gas,” according to the lawsuit.
It should be noted that the directions on the container of Weevil-Cide were only in English and the label “did not have an adequate warning in Spanish.” This is a big deal because “Balderas is a native Spanish speaker and does not read English.” Also, many people across the country speak Spanish and may have difficulty reading a warning label in English.
At the moment the family is seeking “compensatory and punitive damages,” along with “injury damages for the survivors.”
So how has United Phosphorus reacted to the allegations and pending litigation? Well, so far the company has not responded to a request for comment. When Ulloa was contacted for comment, his “phone line appeared to be disconnected.”
Sources:
Wrongful death lawsuit filed against company, pesticide provider in Balderas family poisoning
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