A bill to allocate $50,000 in county funds to the Department of Agriculture for a pesticide study and monitoring of odiferous compounds will move back into committee following yesterday’s public hearing. Three residents offered varying testimony on the use of
A bill to allocate $50,000 in county funds to the Department of Agriculture for a pesticide study and monitoring of odiferous compounds will move back into committee following yesterday’s public hearing.
Three residents offered varying testimony on the use of county funds for a state study, expressing concern about how it would be carried out.
Bill 2278, introduced by Councilman Mel Rapozo, would provide a $50,000 grant through the Office of Economic Development to the Department of Agriculture to investigate the source of noxious odors that have sickened Westside students and faculty. The funding would be supplemented with state funds and technical assistance.
Between November 2006 and April 2008, there have been at least four incidents in which dozens have suffered flu-like symptoms from unidentified odors and been forced to evacuate schools and seek medical treatment.
The state departments of Health and Agriculture have been unable to confirm the source.
Many community members suspect pesticide sprayings on nearby fields leased by Syngenta Seeds, but authorities have pointed to a noxious weed called cleome gynandra.
According to Councilman Daryl Kaneshiro, who led yesterday’s hearing, the county funding would be earmarked for the stinkweed portion of the study.
County Council candidate Bruce Pleas testified that he supports a study but questioned whether the county should turn over money to the state. He said the county should take the lead in any investigation or delegate the task to a local organization.
Pleas also suggested that Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital in Waimea create a response team trained to identify whether chemical compounds were the cause of illness should another incident occur.
The county might not have the expertise to oversee such a project, Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura said.
“If we don’t have people who can do this, we have a serious deficit somewhere,” Pleas said.
Jeri DiPietro, coordinator for GMO Free Kaua‘i, asked that the study broaden its scope to include agricultural practices.
“Waimea is really their outdoor lab,” she said of the seed companies.
DiPietro also called for an independent study with an organization such as Pesticide Action Network, as well as state legislation creating no-spray zones around schools.
In February the Hawai‘i Legislature backed away from a bill proposing such a pesticide-free buffer zone statewide after Syngenta agreed to stop spraying near Waimea Canyon Middle School until Dec. 31.
Kaua‘i Sen. Gary Hooser, who introduced the bill, has said he has no doubts that there is a problem.
Returning to the funding issue, resident Barbara Elmore said she was concerned about the use of county funds for a state study.
“Even if it’s only $100, that’s the responsibility of the Department of Agriculture,” she said.
Both Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. and Syngenta Seeds told The Garden Island that they support science-based studies that can stand up to peer-reviewed journals.
Pioneer spokeswoman Cindy Goldstein added that any study should take into consideration previous Department of Agriculture findings as well as all potential sources of odors.
Goldstein, who attended the hearing, said stinkweed is “exactly where you start based on what the Department of Agriculture determined.”
The department said a smell that sent home several Waimea Canyon Middle School students suffering dizziness, headaches and nausea on Nov. 14, 2006, was from stinkweed, not Syngenta’s legal application of a pesticide. Syngenta, which has denied all claims that its sprayings caused the illnesses, removed the weeds after the incident.
Two months later on Jan. 23, 2007, teachers suffered watery eyes and irritated skin while a field adjacent to the school was being sprayed.
On Jan. 25 this year, some 10 students and a teacher spent the morning in the emergency room at Kaua‘i Veterans Memorial Hospital after inhaling a noxious odor. Authorities, unable to determine the source, blamed weeds.
Most recently, students and teachers suffered headaches, breathing difficulty and nausea on April 15 after a pungent chemical smell from an unidentified source wafted through Kekaha School and St. Theresa’s Elementary.
Spraying was again suspected, but not confirmed.
Bill 2278 will return to the council’s Finance and Economic Development Committee on Wednesday.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer/assistant editor, contributed to this report.
