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BY CURT HARDER
HARRISBURG A state
hearing examiner has
upheld the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture’s
decision not to grant a label
for Agrispon soil additive.
The Department an
nounced a final decision to
deny registration to
Agrispon under the Penn
sylvania Fertilizer, Soil
Conditioner, and Plant
Growth Substance Law of
1977. Pennsylvania
Agriculture Secretary
Hearing
to deny Agrispon’s label
Penrose Hallowell ordered
Sn Corp, Inc. .and J&J Agri-
Products, the manufacturer
and distributor of the
product to stop sale of
Agnspon within 30 days.
Jane Alexander, local
distributor of Agrispon
through J&J Agn-Products,
D.usburg, said the decision
only shows the State of
Pennsylvania is behind the
times.
She said she expects Sn
Corp., the Dallas-based
manufacturer of Agrispon,
judge upholds decision
to jom J&J m appealing the
decision through the Com
monwealth Courts.
“In other cases where Sn
Corp has appealed they have
won,” she said. She added
that as long as the firm has
an appeal pending in the
court system, the State can
not issue a stop sale order.
The Agriculture Secretary
said his decision was based
on a complete review of
evidence and on the Findings
of Fact and Conclusions of
Law recommended by
Joseph Klein, a Harrisburg
attorney.
Klein served as hearing
examiner during four days
of hearings held in
November and December
1979.
Hallowell also denied a
request for registration of
Agrispon under an am
mended application filed by
Sn Corp and J&J on
November 13,1979.
Hallowell said the original
application for registration
included 26 product claims.
“Sn Corp and J&J failed to
offer any proof on 24
separate claims m evidence
presented with the ap
plication, during the
hearmg, or m independent
testing of the product at
Penn State,” he said.
The hearmg examiner
concluded that the ap
plicants failed to establish
that Agnspon “increases the
nitrogen m the soil, or even
enhances the generation of
nitrogen.”
Hallowell’s final order on
the application gives Sn Corp
and J&J 30 days notice m
which to stop sale or to
follow the decision by appeal
to Commonwealth Court.
Alexander said the
hearing process “is a
beautiful way to defeat the
little guy J&J alone never
could afford the expense of
the hearings,” she said.
Sn Corp estimated the cost
of the Harrisburg hearings
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 12,1980—A19
at $30,000, including the
expense of bringing in expert
witnesses from around the
country.
The ammended ap
plication, which Hallowell
demed Thursday, was filed
at the onset of the ad
ministrative hearmg last
fall.
This apphcation made
only two claims: that
Agnspon inhancen the
generation of Nitrogen; and
that Agnspon is non-toxic.
Sn Corp, J&J, and the
Agriculture Department had
agreed'that evidence and
testimony received in the
hearing would be apphed
toward consideration of the
ammended application as
well as the original ap
plication.
Hallowell said he had
reviewed the recom
mendation of the hearing
examiner and data sub
mitted after the hearing was
closed, and found no
evidence to substantiate the
claims.
Alexander said Sn Corp
and J&J had submitted
additional material to the
hearing examiner. “Every
additional piece of data we
get makes our case more
appealable,’’ she said.
Several Penn State
researchers and extension
personnel have called
Agrispon “snake oil” or
“nothing more than water
and some algae.”
To date, 105 products have
been registered as soil
conditioners or plant growth
substances. Orders have
been issued to stop sale of 21
other products.
Eight products, including
Agnspon, have been denied
registration and received
administrative hearings.
After a final order of denial,
four companies have been
ordered to stop sales. Final
decisions still are pending on
four other applications.
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