HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0491.034 2020-2022 ill T
COUNTY ko"LERK m. c
COUNTYAWA1
Aloha to The Council,
L'121 NOV 15 PM - 29
1 support banning any use of glyphosphate-based pesticides on all county property, with no exceptions
for any publicly-managed space. My name is Evan Lam and I'm working within our county as an
entrepreneur in the recycling space under a business known as Circlepack. I was raised in Waimea and I
hope to continue to live here.
However,our county's unwillingness and lack of coordinated effort to completely ban the use of
glyphosphates is another facet which makes me skeptical that the future of my business and personal
life should exist in Hawaii County.
Using glyphosphate-based pesticides indicates several things:
1. The County of Hawaii is willing to patronize a chemical manufacturer who historical function is
transferring health,genetic, systemic and generational risk to individuals and systems for short term
profits.The organization which patented and manufactured glyphosphate has also produced DDT,Agent
Orange and PSB.All of which are now banned.You continuously make the choice to patronize a
manufacturer of weapons-grade chemicals with an objectively horrific track record to spray on our roads
and public facilities. Including facilities which children frequent and connected to water sources.
2. There is a lack of understanding of the immense legal liabilities associated with the use of this class of
chemicals.The County of Hawaii collectively decides our tax dollar are worth risking in potential lawsuits
for an unclear rationale. Legal precedents are being established and won against the use of this chemical
at in local, state and even national cases.
3.There is a lack of understanding about the multiple levels and scales of harm caused by the actual
application of this chemical. One, it is novel chemical whos long term risks are poorly–if at all–
understood. We are seeing cases of terminal cancer,water pollution, and soil contamination associated
with the use of this pesticide. It has detrimental economic effects; I personally know several agriculture
businesses who have lost export opportunities with large retailers specifically because of the possibility
of glyphostphate pesticide drift.
As a closer, I will share a short story. My biological father's home country is Vietnam; he fled during the
war and managed to escape a prison camp. Vietnam is one of the first countries in the world to enact
ecocide laws.Vietnam enacted ecocide laws in direct response to the spraying of Agent Orange,an
herbicide deployed in ecological warfare against the very biology of Vietnam.
The County collectively chooses to spend my family's tax dollars purchasing gallons of a chemical
pesticide which directly benefits the same company who manufactured chemicals to deploy in warfare
against my father's people and land. And now, against me.The County has made the decision to
systematically deploy this chemical across all County facilities without any prudence or precaution as to
the consequences it may have on our citizens or the health of our ecosystem.
You cannot phase out the use of this chemical fast enough.
Comm. No. ' I
Ref. To: p
WNW
Ref. Date—NOV 1 7 20�l