COM 0314.003 1996-1998 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

SENT BV: KONP HO°PITGL 86-13-97 e7: 15aM 8083224479 9693291 if 2 June 12, 1997 ~ From. Patricia Bailey, MD, FAAEM, FACEP ~ ~ 7 13 ~?T~j 7 ~ 5 Concerned resident of Ka'u District and local emergency physician CC._.: ; To: County Council Members COUN i Y" i ~W~II Re Marijuana Eradication Spraying I am pleased to hear }you are Continuing your efforts to evaluate the facts regarding the aerial eradication efforts before deciding whether to allow this program to continue. Work commitments prevent me from attending the June 16th meeting and T am therefore sending this communication in order to present my viewpoint. I am a physician who has been criticized by the DEA, among other agencies, for compiling the results of questionnaires given to me by residents of OceanView who felt their health had been impaired by the spraying. I only collected data and did not examine these 50 people. The conculsion I reached from the data was that their complaints were plausible, :~'o one will ever be able to prove or disprove their allegations. What I do know first hand is that there has obfuscation if not outright deceit on the part of agencies involved with promoting and participating in the eradication efforts. First, red dye used as a marker for Rodeo was visible (and photographed) on tree tops and high branches of our beautiful ohia forest. This holies the official assertion that pinpoint ground spraying of plants was all that was performed. Either spraying was performed from heights proscibed by the manufacturer of the product or there was considerable drift, both possibilitea which were denied Second, I coincidentally happened to be the physician on duty when the civilian helicopter with forestry department workers crashed in Ka'u district earlier this year. When I received the report of the paramedics, they notified me there were 3 backpack sprayers and multiple chemical cannisters on board. One of the victnns told me the name of the pesticide because he was (rightly) concerned that his clothes had been contaminated by the cannister that had broken open on impact. This pesticide not only is more toxic than glyphosphate but does not degrade rapidly and is now contained in land suttounding the crash site. As a somewhat humorous sidelight, the pilot was carried into the ER from the evacuation helicopter clutching a koa walking stick festooned with fresh marijuana leaves. He would not relinquish this even in the face of his substantial injuries and the need to be evaluated It is therefore difficult to understand the fervent denials broadcast by the spokeman that the ill-fated flight had anything to do with spraying. I have great faith in the intelligence of you council members and your commitment to make a fair and responsible decision on this matter. Mahalo.