HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0314.003 1996-1998
o {f~T BY: KONC7 HOSPITt7L Ob-13-97 07: 15C7M 8083224479-i 9693291 iS 1
Facsimile Cover Sheet
'~Q• County Council
Company
Phone:
FaX: 969-3291
From: petricia Bailey, Mn ~
Company: oc, ~
Phone: +1(808)939-9602 C n ~i
C~.. 1
FaX: +1(808)939-9602 -
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Date: 6~1z~97
Pages including this :2>, .
cover page: 1
Comments:
Re: Eradication Spraying Issue
Council ogenda Item for 6i16i97
I would appreciate it very much if the attached could be reed into th•
proceedings of the discussion of meri7uana eradication spraying,
Mehalo.
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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.