Kauai nonprofits galvanize to put GMO issue on ballot

Several nonprofit organizations are supporting a charter amendment petition to regulate pesticides and the growth of genetically modified organisms on Kauai.

The effort comes after a Maui group with a website called Shakamovement.org recently submitted a petition to the Maui county clerk with the required number of signatures to put an initiative on the general election ballot that would call for a conditional ban on GMOs. If the signatures are determined to be valid, the initiative will be placed on the ballot.

Kauai groups pushing for the charter amendment include Kauai Rising, Kauai Fresh Farms, ‘Ohana o Kaua‘i, the Kauai Alliance for Peace and Social Justice, and GMO Free Kauai.

Michael Shooltz of Kauai Rising said the groups have been working on the amendment for the past year and a half.

"This is considered the next step, kind of building what has already been put in place," said Shooltz.

The proposed amendment is similar to Kauai’s Ordinance 960 (formerly Bill 2491), which requires large agricultural companies to disclose the type of pesticides they use, growth of GMOs and establish buffer zones.

Shooltz said the key difference is that under the proposed charter amendment, agribusinesses would need to prove their operations are safe and will not harm human health and the environment.

"If they can prove what they’re doing is safe, they can continue doing it," he added.

The petition needs 2,037 signatures, or 5 percent of 40,738 — the number of county residents registered to vote in the 2012 election. Shooltz said slightly fewer than 2,000 signatures have been collected.

The petition needs to be submitted to the county by May 22.

MOMENTUM on the GMO issue has grown in Hawaii with the recent passage of Kauai’s new pesticide law as well as Hawaii island’s new law to limit future growth of GMOs.

"People are becoming more aware of what’s going on and realizing something has to change," said Shooltz.

He recalled the slew of residents and medical professionals who testified before the Kauai County Council last year on Bill 2491, claiming pesticide exposure was the cause of serious ailments and disease among children and adults who reside on the island’s west side.

Seed companies affected by the new law are Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, BASF and Dow AgroSciences, which own or lease thousands of acres on Kauai where they produce genetically modified seeds such as corn and soybeans. All insist that claims of ailments caused by pesticide exposure are unfounded.

In the charter amendment, commercial agricultural operations may apply for an exemption from the measure if they can prove the pesticides they use are safe. Applicants must show the county that any pesticide described as a "toxin" in the measure will not cause or contribute to pollution or impair the health, growth, development or reproduction of or endanger any fetus, person, organism or "natural system."

A monitoring program would be created under the measure requiring companies to provide air, water and soil samples around the perimeter of the field they plan to spray with pesticides. The samples would then be analyzed by experts.

The amendment also would establish an Office of Environmental Health to implement and enforce the provisions of the charter amendment.

DuPont Pioneer spokes­woman Laurie Yoshida said the amendment, like Ordinance 960, is attempting to regulate activities that are already regulated by federal and state agencies.

"It arbitrarily targets our industry," she said.

In January the seed companies filed a lawsuit against the county to block implementation of Kauai’s GMO and pesticide regulation law, claiming the ordinance is flawed and invalid. Barring any court intervention, the new law is due to take effect in mid-August.

Syngenta spokesman Mark Phillipson declined to comment on the charter amendment due to the pending litigation against the county. Representatives of BASF and Dow AgroSciences could not be reached for comment.

The charter amendment can be viewed at bit.ly/1hz3Sx8.