--- title: Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning a Family description: A pesticide put a family in critical condition canonical: https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/ author: Sarah Begley article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-30T11:52:25.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:18:58.462Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning Family og:description: A pesticide put a family in critical condition og:url: https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning Family twitter:description: A pesticide put a family in critical condition twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning a Family by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Mar 30, 2016 11:52 AM CUT by [Sarah Begley](/author/sarah-begley/) ## Sarah Begley Mar 30, 2016 11:52 AM CUT Terminix and its counterpart in the U.S. Virgin Islands will pay [$10 million](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/03/29/terminix-pay-10m-sickening-delaware-family/82399112/ "undefined") for the illegal indoor use of the pesticide methyl bromide, which sickened a Delaware family on vacation in the U.S. Virgin Islands in March 2015. Steve Esmond, his wife, Dr. Theresa Divine and their two sons fell ill after a Terminix worker sprayed the condo underneath the one where they were staying. While USA _Today_ reported that an update on their condition was not immediately available on Tuesday, [earlier reports ](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/local/2015/09/29/poisoned-del-family-blessed-pope-sunday/73060588/ "undefined")said members of the family were paralyzed for months. The EPA banned methyl bromide for indoor use in 1984, as it is known to cause neurological damage. Terminix’s plea agreement includes $8 million in fines, $1 million to fund a community service project and $1 million in restitution to the EPA. The company will likely also face civil proceedings with the family. \[[USA _Today_](http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/03/29/terminix-pay-10m-sickening-delaware-family/82399112/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/"},"headline":"Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning a Family","datePublished":"2016-03-30T11:52:25.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:18:58.462Z","description":"A pesticide put a family in critical condition","url":"https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sarah Begley","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sarah-begley/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4276049/terminix-10-million-poisoning-vacationers/","name":"Terminix to Pay $10 Million for Poisoning a Family"}}]}] ```