Don’t overreact to farm fears

Are commercial seed companies poisoning Kauai?

One might think so, considering a proposal before the island’s County Council that has drawn huge interest and more than 1,000 people to a raucous public hearing on Wednesday.

The proposal, Bill 2491, would place unprecedented restrictions on the operations of certain commercial growers on the Garden Island, including DuPont, Pioneer, Syngenta, DOW AgroSciences, BASF and Kauai Coffee.

"Kauai residents simply want to know," said bill author and Council member Gary Hooser.

If it were only that simple. Yes, the bill would require these companies to disclose to the community more information about their pesticide use and their production of GMOs (genetically modified organisms). This seems reasonable, and the companies have yet to offer a compelling reason why they can’t disclose more than they do. But Bill 2491 goes well beyond simple disclosure.

Among other things, the bill would:

» Require 500-foot buffer zones around schools, hospitals, streams and other sensitive areas.

» Require enclosed environments for experimental pesticides and GMOs.

» Require the county to prepare an environmental impact statement on the impact of GMO operations and related pesticide practices.

» Create a permitting system, complete with penalties, fees and property tax assessments, for the GMO industry.

In the meantime, it would impose a temporary moratorium on new GMO operations.

In other words, Bill 2491 assumes the worst.

Hooser says agribusiness companies on Kauai apply as much as 18 tons of "very toxic substances," amounting to more than 22 different types of restricted-use pesticides, a year. By comparison, golf courses use about 200 pounds of pesticides yearly.

Doctors and nurses warned at Wednesday’s hearing that ailments including cancers, respiratory problems and nosebleeds could be caused by chemical exposure, although no solid link has been proved.

And that’s the rub. In the absence of hard evidence, Bill 2491 is driven by fear and mistrust, which big agribusiness seems impotent to alleviate.

But with efforts to restrict this kind of agriculture on Kauai as well as the Big Island — to the potential long-term detriment of the state’s agriculture industry — cooler heads need to prevail.

Disclosure about pesticide use should be as transparent, comprehensive and easy to understand as possible — and it should be noted that most farming operations, even some organic ones, use pesticides.

As for buffer zones, compromise should be possible. Syngenta’s Mark Phillipson warned that seed companies on Kauai "would lose 90 percent of our lands" with a 500-foot buffer, driving them out of business and putting hundreds of employees out of work. Hooser vigorously disputes this claim, calling it a gross exaggeration.

Greg Williams, orchard operations manager for Kauai Coffee, agreed that a 500-foot buffer was excessive, but suggested that smaller buffers might work. The U.S. Agriculture Department recommends them for organic farmers to protect against neighboring farms. At the very least, such a concept on a small island should not be dismissed out of hand; but a 500-foot buffer shouldn’t be imposed without knowing whether it’s practical and necessary.

Kauai should also decide whether a new permitting system for GMO crops on Kauai would accomplish anything beyond letting residents know what’s being planted. Before creating an new bureaucracy with rules that will need to be enforced, it would be wise to consider if simple disclosure statements could have the same result.

The demonstrations on Kauai, and elsewhere in the islands, indicate that more information and steps to alleviate concern over the environmental effects of experimental agriculture need to be taken. Overly rigid measures that cause unnecessary economic damage won’t help anyone.