LIHUE — Some Kauai residents are collecting signatures that would put to vote a citizens’ initiative aimed at regulating the GMO industry. The petition says its goal is to protect the community and environment from the “hazards of GMO agriculture,
LIHUE — Some Kauai residents are collecting signatures that would put to vote a citizens’ initiative aimed at regulating the GMO industry.
The petition says its goal is to protect the community and environment from the “hazards of GMO agriculture, toxins and testing.”
Those behind the measure say it is more comprehensive than the recently passed County Ordinance 960 (formerly Bill 2491) and would shift the burden of proof to the industry.
“It really focuses on having (the industry) take on the responsibility of proving what they’re doing is safe, which should be fine because they claim what they’re doing is,” said Michael Shooltz of Kauai Rising.
Kauai Rising worked closely with Bob Yuhnke, a career environmental and public interest attorney, to draft the 18-page charter amendment, which Shooltz said is founded on legal documentation and a Supreme Court ruling (Maine vs. Taylor, 1986) that shows there is a precautionary principal when it comes to states and counties protecting the health and safety of their citizens.
“We’ve been working on it probably for a year and a half now,” he said. “This is really a next step beyond 2491.”
To get the amendment on the Nov. 4 ballot, Kauai Rising must collect 2,037 signatures — 5 percent of the county’s registered voters — by May 21, according to the county elections office.
The group said it collected about 2,000 signatures in the first two weeks.
“The first step is to get it on the ballot,” Shooltz said. “Second step is to have it pass.”
In addition to shifting the burden of proof, the amendment, if approved by a simple majority of Kauai voters, would shift regulation and monitoring costs to the industry itself.
“It allows commercial agricultural entities to continue their current operations only after submitting an application, application fee, and acceptable proof to a qualified panel of experts that their operations are not contaminating the people, air, land, water, or other organisms beyond the boundaries of the property they control,” states the amendment’s summary.
It would also create a County Office of Environmental Health to implement and enforce the amendment, as well as establish civil and criminal penalties for noncompliance, including fines up to $25,000 per day, per violation.
The Kauai County Council passed Bill 2491 in November. It calls for Kauai’s largest agricultural companies, as well as Kauai Coffee, to disclose their use of pesticides and genetically modified crops. It also establishes buffer zones around schools, hospitals, roads and other sensitive areas. It’s facing a legal challenge by Kauai’s four biotech seed companies. BASF, Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer and Agrigenetics, a company affiliated with Dow AgroSciences, say the measure is pre-empted by state and federal law and arbitrarily targets the industry.
Peter Wiederoder, Kauai site leader for Dow AgroSciences, said he could not comment on the measure Wednesday. Attempts to contact representatives of Syngenta, Pioneer and BASF Wednesday were not successful.
Shooltz said the passage of Bill 2491 brought a lot of community awareness to what is happening on the island and that he wants to see the next step — the charter amendment put to a vote.
“What’s happening on this island is not sustainable,” he said.
Should a simple majority of voters approve an amendment, it would immediately take effect, according to the County Charter.
The proposed charter amendment can be viewed at kauairising.org.
• Chris D’Angelo, environment writer, can be reached at 245-0441 or cdangelo@thegardenisland.com.
