LIHU‘E – Kaua‘i County Department of Water convened Tuesday to discuss a board approval to join as a class member in the class action case City of Greenville v. Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc and Syngenta AG. The plaintiffs in the
LIHU‘E – Kaua‘i County Department of Water convened Tuesday to discuss a board approval to join as a class member in the class action case City of Greenville v. Syngenta Crop Protection, Inc and Syngenta AG.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit allege “Syngenta manufactured atrazine and sold it to farmers knowing it had a great potential to run off of crop land and into bodies of water.”
Atrazine is a powerful, economical chemical compound used to eradicate weeds. It is also used on agricultural sites that grow corn, sugarcane, guava, hay, macadamia nuts and pasture and can enter and contaminate drinking water sources.
The five board members present voted in favor of a settlement with Syngenta rather than pursue a lawsuit against the Swiss-based company. The settlement was between $5,000 and $10,000, according to Department of Water’s Attorney Andrea Suzuki. The lawsuit money goes back to the department to recoup the losses incurred from water testing.
The class action was brought about after atrazine was detected in the county water. The claim states that any trace amount calls for a class action and qualifies for settlement.
Secretary Randall Nishimura expressed concerns as to how the council will be able to act in the future by settling now.
“I’m most concerned by the limitations of future actions,” he said. “It looks like the action is in favor of Syngenta.”
Chemist Andy Canavan, who works for Kaua‘i County Department of Water, was asked to state his findings about atrazine in public water.
“Atrazine was found is very small quantities, only trace amounts that are not harmful to humans and were well below EPA standards,” Canavan said.
The EPA standard is 3.2 parts per billion. “Atrazine is used worldwide,” Canavan added.
* Editor’s note: The National Health Federation wrote that “Atrazine is a common agricultural herbicide with endocrine disruptor activity. There is evidence that it interferes with reproduction and development, and may cause cancer. Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved its continued use in October 2003, that same month the European Union (EU) announced a ban of atrazine because of ubiquitous and unpreventable water contamination.”
