Court hearing set on lawsuit over GMO law
A hearing will be held Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Honolulu on a lawsuit against Kauai County filed by seed companies trying to block a new pesticides and GMO ordinance.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren will hear arguments at 2 p.m. on whether the suit should be allowed to continue or be dismissed.
Bill 2491, now Ordinance 960, set to take effect Oct. 1, requires large agricultural operations to disclose the type of pesticides sprayed, as well as cultivation of genetically engineered crops. Companies must also establish buffer zones near schools, medical facilities, homes, parks, public roadways, shorelines and waterways.
Syngenta Hawaii LLC, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., Agrigenetics Inc., doing business as Dow AgroSciences, and BASF filed a joint complaint against the county, contending the ordinance is fatally flawed and invalid. They claim the law is pre-empted by state and federal law and that it will increase risks of vandalism and misappropriation of trade secrets.
Representing the county in the lawsuit is Honolulu firm McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon. In February the Kauai County Council approved up to $75,000 to retain special counsel.
The county attorney’s office is seeking an additional $50,000. The Council will address the request at a meeting Wednesday.
Attorneys from the Center for Food Safety and Earthjustice are representing three other nonprofit organizations — Ka Makani Ho‘opono, Pesticide Action Network North America and the Surfrider Foundation — to defend the new law.
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Star-Advertiser staff and Associated Press
