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October 6, 2002
LOXAHATCHEE -- Two homeowners who violated citrus canker quarantine rules have been fined thousands of dollars by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Citrus trees found in the yards of the homeowners in Loxahatchee in Palm Beach County and in Naples were infected with citrus canker and destroyed shortly after a USDA team discovered them in April.
Elliot Valentin was fined $3,750 for transplanting a key lime tree from his Miami-Dade County yard to a new home in Palm Beach County. Evaristo Acosta, of Naples, was fined $15,000 for planting citrus trees in a quarantined area.
Miami-Dade and Broward counties, and parts of Hendry and Collier counties, are quarantined zones. No citrus trees, fruits or plant parts may be moved from the quarantine areas, and no citrus trees may be planted there.