A Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture investigation has determined that Syngenta Seeds on Jan. 23 appropriately sprayed insecticides on the fields it leases some 800 feet from Waimea Canyon School in Kekaha. The April 3 report — obtained this week by
A Hawai‘i Department of Agriculture investigation has determined that Syngenta Seeds on Jan. 23 appropriately sprayed insecticides on the fields it leases some 800 feet from Waimea Canyon School in Kekaha.
The April 3 report — obtained this week by The Garden Island through a Freedom of Information Act request — shows the GMO giant applied Sevin according to its labeling instructions.
The international company sprayed the fields between 2:11 and 3:12 p.m. as light winds blew parallel to the Westside school after students went home, the report states.
Spraying video
However, the Jan. 24 complaint prompting the investigation stems from teachers experiencing irritated skin and watery eyes during a department meeting from 2:15 to 3 p.m. Jan. 23 in classroom F-102.
Included in the Department of Agriculture’s investigation is a video that special education teacher Howard Hurst recorded Jan. 16 and Jan. 23. Footage shows mist rising from equipment being used to spray fields adjacent to the school. “The video showed a pretty decent pesticide application taking place,” said Bob Boesch, pesticide program manager for the Department of Agriculture. “I didn’t see much of a drift into school property there … I’ve certainly seen a lot worse.”
While the Environmental Protection Agency allows use of Sevin, it is against federal law to apply it inconsistently with its instructions.
Hurst contacted Syngenta’s Hawai‘i Manager Doug Tiffany and reported children complaining and informed him that he had videotaped everything.
Tiffany’s response was, ‘Good for you,’” Hurst says in the report.
Tiffany could not be reached for comment at press time.
On Jan. 26, state pesticide specialists took samples from window louvers inside the classroom where the teachers experienced their symptoms.
The report shows that carbaryl, the active ingredient in Sevin, was not detected when labs analyzed the samples March 15.
Carbaryl can cause severe flu-like symptoms and extreme environmental hazards if not used as directed, according to Sevin’s warning label.
Sevin is a nerve poison, Boesch said, but is “not very potent” and “way different than a sarin gas.”
Pesticide specialist Ann Kam first went to Waimea Canyon School at 11 a.m. Jan. 25 to collect Hurst’s attestation, but Principal Glenda Miyazaki would not sign the voluntary consent form during school hours, the report says.
Kam proceeded to Syngenta’s office in Kekaha to interview Michael Girod, the Jan. 23 insecticide sprayer.
The report states that Girod applied the pesticide according to its instructions, but Syngenta will voluntarily move the spray time to 3:30 p.m. for future applications “to further aid the safety for Waimea Canyon School.”
Girod says in the report that Syngenta has installed a windsock and ribbons on the sprayer to further aid wind speed and direction determinations during application.
At the principal’s request, Kam returned to the school at 2 p.m. to follow up on the teacher’s complaint, but was again turned away.
Miyazaki told the specialist she could not provide the required campus escort at that time because she and other teachers, including Hurst, were flying off island for an excursion.
In the report, Hurst said Tom Perry, director of the Hawai‘i State Teachers Association on Kaua‘i, informed him that it is his “contractual right to meet with Ms. Kam at the school.”
“Mrs. Miyazaki (sic) actions intentionally hindered a DOA investigation, placing students and staff at continued risk,” Hurst says in his statement for the report.
The principal did not return calls for comment at press time.
On Jan. 26, Kam went to the school with Pesticide Specialist Glenn Sahara. Vice Principal Linda Uyehara signed the Notice of Pesticide Use/Misuse Inspection and the specialists interviewed affected teachers and collected samples.
Boesch emphasized the need for “some kind of coexistence” between Syngenta and Waimea Canyon School — noting the spraying on Jan. 23 when teachers were meeting after school hours.
“They have to talk to each other,” he said. “The Department of Agriculture can’t mediate this from Honolulu.”
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
