One of the major Thai basil producers in the state plowed under three acres of the crop Friday in Ewa, and an additional 25 ready-for-harvest acres in Kunia are slated for destruction, valued in total at $157,000 wholesale.
The Department of Health ordered the destruction after investigators found during a routine sampling the pesticide methomyl, not approved for use on basil by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Fat Law’s Farm was ordered Tuesday to cease the sale, delivery, holding or offering of sale of the produce.
But farm co-owner Frank Law said Health Department investigators erred when they took a sampling from a field of old basil, scheduled for replanting and not meant for consumption, which was sprayed for insects with methomyl.
"I have to pay for the land," he said. "I pay for one week (salaries) already. I am sick with headache. I cannot sleep. No money to pay worker(s)."
The Health Department will not recall the basil since the amounts found — 0.045 parts per million (ppm) to 3.49 ppm — fall below the approved limits for other crops, ranging from 1 ppm for tomatoes to 6 ppm for parsley, and it degrades quickly, said Lynn Nakasone, administrator for the Environmental Health Services Division.
It "will focus on additional basil growers," she said.
Most of the 130,650 pounds of Thai basil produced by Fat Law’s Farm is exported to Canada, Europe and the mainland. Only 1 percent of its basil is consumed in Hawaii.
State toxicologist Barbara Brooks said there is no cause for concern from ingesting these minute amounts since it is allowed for use on other crops at higher levels. But it can be extremely toxic for farmers exposed to high levels, resulting in overstimulation of the nervous system, which is why use is restricted to certified applicators.
DOH Deputy Director of Environmental Health Gary Gill said the reason methomyl is not EPA-approved for basil, although it is OK on parsley, might be somewhat political, and there may be too few basil growers to lobby for approval of its use.
DOH routinely randomly samples market-ready produce, which is tested at a state laboratory for a wide range of chemicals.
In this case there was a hit from samples collected April 12 from the Ewa farm.
Investigators went to the Kunia farm for further sampling Tuesday. Levels there ranged from nondetectable to 0.507 ppm.
Law said investigators found little methomyl in the sampling from the wholesaler, which he said likely came from spray tanks with methomyl residue, and careless workers not cleaning the tanks. But in the field sampling, they found a higher level of methomyl because it was used to kill insects on a field of old plants, which was not intended for consumption and was scheduled to be plowed up and replanted, which is done every eight months.
He said he saw nothing wrong in using leftover methomyl on the old plants. Methomyl is permitted for used on other crops such as eggplant and left in sprayer tanks, he said.
Law and his brother are certified to use methomyl on other crops grown on the farm, but workers use a different pesticide on the basil.
Gill said there is zero tolerance for methomyl use on basil, since it is not approved for use on that plant.
Law is faced with monthly expenses including $45,000 in labor costs for 35 full-time workers, $20,000 in mortgage and leasing costs, and $20,000 for water. Law said his workers will trim the acres of basil plants, which will take 1 1⁄2 months to regrow. He said he will use different tanks for the different chemicals to ensure no cross-contamination.
