A community divided

LIHUE » Supporters and opponents of a controversial bill to regulate pesticides and genetically engineered crops crowded the Kauai Veterans Center Wednesday to testify before a County Council committee.

More than 1,000 people attended the hearing Wednesday on Bill 2491.

Loudspeakers allowed those outside to hear testimony after the center reached its 625-person capacity.

As people spoke, motorists honked car horns as they drove past the center. Supporters and opponents waved signs out front.

Inside, individuals alternately applauded or jeered, prompting the committee to remind participants to respect those who spoke.

Greg Williams, orchard operations manager for Kauai Coffee, said the measure would cause significant economic harm.

"Kauai Coffee would be unable to use some of the most effective ways to control weeds on 50 percent of our farm," he said. "This could be devastating to our business."

Physician Douglas Wilmore of Kilauea said pesticide toxicity is a key issue.

"Tourists come here to experience the pristine, natural environment, not to be exposed to a pesticide-laden island," he said. "What would be lost is the tourist industry if nothing is done by the Council."

The bill before the Agricultural and Environmental Services Committee calls for mandatory disclosure by large agribusinesses of pesticide use and genetically modified organisms. The committee will take up the measure again at a meeting Wednesday.

The ordinance also would ban open-air testing of experimental pesticides and GMOs, and create a pesticide-free 500-foot buffer zone around schools, hospitals and other areas, such as public roads, streams and shorelines.

The proposal applies only to large users of restricted-use pesticides — agricultural operations that buy or use more than 5 pounds or 15 gallons of restricted-use pesticides, or any amount of experimental pesticides annually.

Bill supporters say they have a right to know of the pesticides used by agribusinesses and that disclosure shouldn’t be an issue if the pesticides are safe, as they claim. Seed companies say the bill will affect their businesses, primarily because of the buffer zones, which would reduce farmland.

The bill affects<$o($)> seed companies Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, Dow AgroSciences and BASF, as well as Kauai Coffee Inc., the largest coffee grower in the state.

Kauai Coffee’s Williams said the company is willing to work on appropriate buffers, but that the proposed 500-foot buffer is excessive.

"The broad prohibitions, notification and reporting requirements on pesticide use and crop development are operationally impractical," he said. The requirements in Bill 2491 "also present a clear and costly county administrative burden that would duplicate federal and state reporting," he said.

Keith Horton, operations leader for field activities at Dow AgroSciences’ Kauai site, said a lot of misinformation is circulating about pesticide use as well as suggestions of lack of oversight and regulation. Dow frequently uses other methods like mowing to control pests, he said.

If pesticides are needed, a product is carefully chosen, he said.

A pesticide may be voluntarily restricted because it has certain properties that require additional protective equipment to be used by workers or special precautions need to be taken to avoid sensitive sites, like shallow groundwater tables, he said.

"Restricting use of such products to people trained and who understand and follow these precautions seems to me like regulations that are working rather than a broken system," Horton said.

Attendees started to trickle into the center’s parking lot at 7 a.m.

Police officers were at the center to monitor the crowd.

Bill opponents wore blue shirts in support of agribusinesses while supporters of the bill wore red T-shirts.

Expectant mothers were among those who testified in favor of the bill, arguing that transparency is necessary to determine the level of pesticide exposure.

Doctors and<$o($)> nurses said residents have had cancers, respiratory problems and nosebleeds that could be attributed to chemical exposure, although no solid link has been established. Affected residents say their ailments are caused by pesticides.

Wilmore, the Kilauea doctor, testified that plants develop resistance to pesticides, similar to patients who develop resistance to antibiotics. Over time, the dosage needs to be increased.

Resident Elijah Frank said, "This bill is not anti-farming. It is for protecting what we love."

Seed companies are taking over the island’s agricultural lands, he added.

"They can grow whatever GMO crops they want, spray whatever chemicals they want, in any quantity, upwind of our schools and communities and not a single member of our county government has any say whatsoever in this process," Frank said.

He said he wondered how many millions of pounds of chemicals will be poured into the soil in the years ahead if seed companies are allowed to continue operations unchecked.

"I have aunties and uncles who do care deeply about this land and I see sadness in their eyes when they see what is happening today," he said. "They say, ‘If you take care of the land, the land will take care of you.’

"With all the problems in the world today, we need to work together more than ever to find long-term solutions."