At least eight children went home ill yesterday from Waimea Canyon Elementary School after winds and heavy rains spread a pungent odor from a neighboring land plot wrought with weeds. The odor was coming from about 30 yards away from
At least eight children went home ill yesterday from Waimea Canyon Elementary School after winds and heavy rains spread a pungent odor from a neighboring land plot wrought with weeds.
The odor was coming from about 30 yards away from the school, causing at least a dozen of the students to have tears, dizziness, headaches and runny noses.
The approximately 12-acre neighboring plot, owned by Kikiaola Land Co., is leased by Syngenta Inc., a seed research company whose primary crops are corn, cotton and wheat.
Officials narrowed down the most likely culprit of the symptoms: a common Westside weed called cleome gynandra, also known as a wild spider flower. School officials and police put the weed in a bucket and took samples of it into the school for teachers to identify if it was, in fact, the same smell.
Though eight children went home with flu-like symptoms, at least 20 were in the health clinic throughout the day, several of whom had their heads in their hands and tears in their eyes.
A teacher noticed the pungent odor a couple of weeks ago, Principal Glenda Miyazaki said. The odor became stronger, however, after this week’s surge of wet weather and strong gusts.
After noticing the odor was much stronger today, Miyazaki made several phone calls to various agencies to investigate the source of the smell, including calling the state departments of Agriculture and Health and, finally, Hazmat.
“We knew the most important thing to do right away was to make sure there wasn’t anything toxic,” she said.
Firefighters from the Waimea station responded initially, and officials from the departments of Agriculture and Health responded later in the day.
A preliminary report by the Kaua‘i Fire Department found the wild spider flowers growing in the area but was not able to confirm whether or not they were what caused the children to feel ill.
The DOA will take samples of the leaves, and officials cleaned and wiped down parts of the school that could have been affected by the plant.
Doug Tiffany, Hawai‘i manager for Syngenta, said the company will do everything it can to eradicate the weeds once they dry out, so as not to further disrupt the air. The plants have hairs on them with oils, which, in the wind and rain, blow away and can cause irritation. Tiffany said Friday or Saturday would be the soonest the company could remove the weeds without using pesticides.
“It does stink and as a company we certainly hope the children are feeling better,” Tiffany said.
