Settlement curtails cane burning in final season

The state’s lone sugar plantation — in the midst of its 144th and final harvesting season on Maui — will be subject to new restrictions on cane burning under a legal settlement announced Tuesday.

“This is huge,” said Karen Chun, leader of Stop Cane Burning on Maui, which filed suit against the state Department of Health seeking to end cane burning about a half-year before it was announced that Hawaiian Commercial &Sugar Co. would be going out of business following this year’s growing season.

The settlement, approved under the direction of Maui Circuit Judge Peter Cahill, will reduce the number of acres burned after June 30 by more than 20 percent and shut down all cane burning activities after Christmas Day.

Alexander &Baldwin Inc., HC&S’s parent company, released a statement Tuesday saying it was satisfied with the settlement.

“While the lawsuit was meritless and the plaintiffs’ post-settlement claims are inaccurate, concluding these legal proceedings allows HC&S to focus on completing our final harvest and on our employees who remain our highest priority. Throughout 2016, we will continue to work actively with DOH to adhere to the state’s burn procedures, which we implement field by field, to minimize the impact to our community,” the company said.

In January, A&B announced it would phase out sugar cane farming over the next 12 months and instead grow diversified crops on the 36,000-acre Central Maui farm. A&B said HC&S, which lost $30 million last year, would retain about half of its 675 workers through the end of year.

The 2,000-member Stop Cane Burning on Maui group filed suit in Maui’s Environment Court in July hoping to stop cane burning for good. The group had claimed that a regulatory system that allows open-air agricultural burning is unconstitutional.

But after it was announced that this year would be HC&S’ last harvest and it became clear there would be no resolution to the suit before the end of the season, the plaintiffs decided to settle, Maui attorney Lance Collins said.

“It was a significant compromise on (A&B’s) part,” Collins said.

Under the settlement, no sugar cane planted on leased public lands or old government roads will be burned after June 30. This comprises more than 20 percent of the land currently permitted for burning, Collins said.

In addition, no cane burning will be allowed after Dec. 25. Last year’s harvest ended in January.

Other restrictions include:

>> Fields may not be burned less than eight weeks after herbicide has been applied or less than four weeks after “ripener” has been sprayed.

>> Other than the limited use of herbicides, no fields will be burned where pesticides have been applied.

>> Cane fires within a half-mile of any school must be extinguished at least two hours before school starts.

>> Because the Maui state health inspector finishes work at 3:30 p.m. and doesn’t work on Sundays, no cane burning will occur after 3:30 p.m. or on Sundays.

>> The Health Department will require a formal environmental assessment for anyone seeking to conduct burning on public lands.

“This will stop large-scale ag burning forever,” Chun declared.

Also under the settlement, Chun agreed to waive her right to sue A&B for over-spraying her Paia house in 2013. Tests had determined that restricted-use herbicides had entered her house, according to the suit.

The other individual plaintiffs, Trinette Furtado and Brad Edwards, also agreed to not sue A&B for any health damage linked to cane smoke inhalation or exposure to pesticides.

Chun said members of Stop Cane Burning on Maui will remain vigilant and continue to watch over HC&S’ operations to make sure it follows the new restrictions.

In a news release Chun said, “The over 2,000 members of Stop Cane Burning had the courage to stand up to one of the Big Five companies. And we are thankful that we finally have a definite end date to burning and additional restrictions on the burns.”

She added that the organization’s members raised, on average, $20 per member to cover court costs and expenses, and Collins worked without compensation.

“I never really imagined the day when cane burning would be stopped,” said Collins, who grew up on Maui.