Throughout the state, communities are raising concerns over pesticide use in agriculture and biotech operations.
Billl 2491
Bill 2491 is a bill moving in the Kauai County Council which would impose a moratorium on the experimental use and commercial production of genetically-modified organisms until an environmental impact study is completed. The legislation would also create new permitting requirements and procedures for growing such crops after the study is complete, including rules on the use of chemicals.
Alleged farmworker safety violations in Syngenta's Kauai test fields have brought about a formal complaint from the Environmental Protection Agency just as councilmembers there prepare to discuss a repeal of the county buffer zones and pesticide disclosure ordinance. Read More »
The university's College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources has restricted and violated one of it's own professor's academic freedom, and a group of his professional colleagues are speaking out against his mistreatment. Read More »
As the University of Hawai‘i was cozying up to GMO giant Monsanto, one of the school’s professors says that he was forced to tolerate a climate of “bigotry, retaliation and hostility” for speaking out about the potential risks of genetic engineering. The university disputes his charges. Read More »
A group of Kauai residents has been in Switzerland educating the Swiss public and shareholders of Swiss company Syngenta about the company's use of pesticides in Hawaii and its lawsuit against Kauai County, much to the chagrin of the company itself. Read More »
The delegation seeks to gain support for pesticide regulation here in Hawaii from leaders in Switzerland, where GMO cultivation and the use of many restricted use pesticides is already banned. Read More »
The State Department of Agriculture released a report finding pesticide levels near Waimea Canyon Middle School to be safe, but pesticide-regulation advocates aren't buying it. Read More »
Lynn DeCroite, a Molokai farmer with ties to Monsanto, was sworn-in today to the state House to represent District 13, which voted in favor of the Maui GMO moratorium. Read More »
Leaders from the two sides of the GMO debate share their thoughts after Maui County voters passed a moratorium on further GMO production yesterday. Read More »
Today, voters in both Maui County and Kauaʻi County face decisions that will impact the bio-tech industry and the chemical companies that dominate it. Read More »
Monsanto, Dow, the Hawaii Crop Improvement Association and a D.C.-based bio-tech non-profit organization have raised almost 100 times more money to defeat Maui County's GMO moratorium initiative than its proponents have spent to see it passed. More at Environmental Leader »
While independent research shows that Chlorpyrifos, a Dow Chemical insecticide used in Kaua‘i's GMO fields, can cause significant harm to children nearby, Dow is intent on convincing the EPA otherwise. Read More »
Kauaʻi residents and community leaders respond to a federal court ruling in the lawsuit brought by chemical companies against Kauaʻi's Ordinance 960: “This battle is far from over.” Read More »
Highly toxic pesticides are being applied to GMO test fields on Kauaʻi at a much higher rate than on most U.S. farms, an analysis of new data reveals. Read More »
Sampling by the DOH reveals Oahu's urban streams have the highest number of pesticides, but that most pesticide levels are still below EPA benchmarks. Read More »
Mason Chock will fill the seat vacated by Nadine Nakamura. Chock is expected to vote in favor of overriding the Mayor's veto of Bill 2491. More at Kauai Eclectic »
The state Department of Agriculture has only one employee assigned to review pesticide inspection reports and follow up on possible violations. More at Civil Beat »
Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s announcement Monday that he and the Kauai legislative delegation had negotiated some temporary, volunteer rules regarding pesticide use on that island has some Hawaii Island legislators wondering if similar moves are coming for the county’s genetically modified organism debate. More at West Hawaii Today »Read More »
Until Kauaʻi council's Bill 2491 is passed or state legislation is passed, Governor Abercrombie has called on farmers and seed companies on the Garden Isle to voluntarily comply with new pesticide regulations developed by the state. Read More »