Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Clyde
Eldridge, 65, of Calais, Maine, pled guilty yesterday in U.S. District Court to making a false
statement to federal agents.
According to court records, Eldridge owned C&E Feeds, a feed and pet store in
Calais. In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its Canadian counterpart,
Environment Canada, were investigating the illegal use of the pesticide cypermethrin. On
Sept. 23, 2010, when asked by two EPA special agents to identify anyone to whom he had
sold cypermethrin and whether he had kept records of the sales, Eldridge said he sold different
amounts of cypermethrin to different people and that he did not keep track of the sales. The
investigation revealed, however, that Eldridge sold cypermethrin on 10-11 occasions to one
regional production manager employed by Kelly Cove Salmon Ltd., a subsidiary of Cooke
Aquaculture, and that on each occasion Eldridge made a note of the quantity picked up by the
manager. In April of 2013, Cooke Aquaculture pled guilty in New Brunswick Provincial Court
and paid a $490,000 fine for illegally using pesticides that killed hundreds of lobsters in waters
that were about a mile from Maine’s border.
Eldridge faces up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced after
completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The investigation was conducted by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and
Environment Canada.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
