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99 Cents Only Stores Fined For Selling Illegal Pesticides

COMMERCE (AP) — A federal judge has ordered 99 Cents Only Stores Inc. to pay more than $400,000 in penalties for selling illegal pesticides in various household products.

The decision announced Wednesday by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cited 166 violations that dealt with pesticides, which were unregistered with the federal agency and also misbranded.

A phone message left for 99 Cents Stores, which has headquarters in Commerce, Calif., was not immediately returned Wednesday.

The fine is the largest contested penalty ever ordered by an EPA administrative law judge against a product retailer under a federal pesticide act.

Some of the products were sold in California, Arizona and Nevada. The violations were found by state inspectors between 2004 and 2008.

(© Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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