A federal court jury awarded a total of $507,090 in damages to 15 Waimea residents who say they can’t enjoy their homes because of red dust from test fields operated by DuPont Pioneer on Kauai.
After a four-week trial, the seven-member jury reached its verdict Friday: $191,315 for property damage and $315,775 for loss of use and enjoyment of property.
The residents filed lawsuits in 2011 and 2012 against the seed company formerly called Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. in state court on Kauai, claiming the red dust from the company’s Waimea Research Center field caused extensive damage to their properties, but both cases were moved to federal court in Honolulu. One of the lawsuits named Gay & Robinson and Robinson Family Partners as defendants.
After the verdict, residents’ attorney Patrick Kyle Smith said he was elated for his clients. "We hope it makes things better in Waimea," said Smith outside the courtroom.
DuPont Pioneer’s attorney, Clement Glynn, declined to comment on the verdict. But in an emailed statement, DuPont Pioneer spokeswoman Laurie Yoshida said company officials are disappointed in the verdict and will evaluate their options in the coming days.
"DuPont Pioneer will continue its adherence to following approved farming practices as well as using sustainable management techniques such as cover crops and vegetation barriers," she said.
The verdict said DuPont Pioneer failed to follow generally accepted agricultural and management practices from Dec. 13, 2009, to Dec. 31, 2011, and that the "seriousness of the harm to each plaintiff outweighs the public benefit of Pioneer’s farming operation."
The jury also decided the seed company’s conduct significantly interfered with each resident’s use and enjoyment of their property.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi described the residents who testified during the trial as "bellwether" plaintiffs.
Friday’s verdict covered 15 of the 16 residents who testified during the trial. The jury did not award one resident damages because he didn’t "own, lease, occupy or controlled the property."
It’s unclear whether other Waimea residents will be awarded damages. More than 100 residents were named in the lawsuit filed in 2011 against DuPont Pioneer.
The award for property damage for each resident was based on the square footage of the residents’ floor plans, which the jury used as reference.
At the beginning of the trial, when residents alluded to health impacts they link to the dust, Kobayashi reminded their attorneys that the cases were about property damage, loss of enjoyment of property and emotional stress — not physical effects.
During the trial, residents Allen and Susan Arquette described how red dust damaged their homes as well as appliances and furnishings.
Cindy Goldstein, DuPont Pioneer’s industry relations manager, who formerly served as the community outreach manager during 2009 through 2011 for Pioneer Hi-Bred, testified that she had observed dust blown off fields from tradewinds in all directions, including toward Waimea.
During the trial, Smith presented a document that showed talking points Goldstein had provided to fellow company representatives to help them prepare for an October 2010 presentation before Kauai’s mayor and community leaders. In the document, Goldstein advised them to "avoid photos that show clouds of dust rising out of fields or clouds of dust moving down Waimea Valley."
She testified that sprinklers were being used near the Waimea Research Center in 2010 to control dust. Goldstein said DuPont Pioneer also started using cover crops in 2009.
During closing arguments Thursday, Smith said the company lacked ground cover on their fields and windbreaks in certain areas to protect homes from the dust.
According to DuPont attorney Glynn, the company implemented a Natural Resources Conservation Service plan in February 2011.
He contended during closing arguments that dust had been a problem in Waimea long before DuPont Pioneer and that there was no credible evidence that showed any difference compared with what the town was like many years ago.
The residents want DuPont Pioneer and other seed companies to leave Kauai. "(The) plaintiffs are not going to be satisfied until they get Pioneer and other seed companies out of there," he said to the jury.
