OTHER NEWS - April 5, 1996

Scotts Under Government Probe: The Environmental Protection Agency is looking into whether Scotts Co. illegally sold subpar pesticides, investigators said. The Columbus Dispatch first reported the investigation, saying the company is alleged to be selling “off-specification” materials--products with a chemical composition not matching the one registered with the EPA--directly to farmers. A spokesman for the Marysville, Ohio-based maker of Scotts and Miracle-Gro lawn- and turf-care products said the company is trying to find out more about the probe. “We believe the only products we had released ‘off-spec’ were fertilizer products,” which is legal, spokesman Dave Slaybaugh said. Scotts shares were unchanged at $17.375 on the NYSE.