"The monitoring of pesticide use in Florida has become make-believe. It is Disney-esque," said Alex Simons [3], a former environmental specialist for Florida's Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Simons said decisions were "politicized" and decided by officials "in close contact with [pesticide] companies." Tom Greenhalgh [3], a former water contamination investigator for Florida's Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), blamed state officials "who basically worked for DuPont [4] and the other chemical companies [5]." Greenhalgh added, "There is a lot of ground water in Florida contaminated by pesticides," but "studies never get published." Another former DEP employee, Theodore McDowell [3], testified under oath that there were "100 or so" times he was asked to "make statements that [he] believed to be false," in order to downplay "environmental damage ... caused by chemicals." When a meeting was held to address growing concerns in late 1995 or early 1996, a deputy sheriff told the specialists their meeting was illegal, ending it.