New hearing for Ag-Mart

The State Pesticide Board will hold a new hearing this summer on whether tomato grower Ag-Mart forced workers to stay in fields that had just been sprayed with chemicals.

The board tentatively agreed yesterday to hold a hearing in July on 202 violations.

The board also assessed a civil penalty of $21,000 for 42 willful violations.

Ag-Mart farms about 700 acres in Brunswick County, and until recently grew tomatoes in Pender County.