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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0271a.058 2012-2014 J Yoshimoto From: Sharon Willeford <slwsurfing @gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 30, 2013 1:14 PM To: undisclosed-recipients: Subject: PLEASE tune in to the Kauai Pesticide Live stream of hearing tomorrow:Kauai County Council feed and KKCR Kauai Community Radio 91.9FM and www.kkcr.org will be providing streamed and broadcast coverage for the first 3 hours of testimony. o c) w ©C7 - -=C (T1 Comm. N o"7 • SS? R.<.:,f. To: r ' PS M7 C- Rcf. Dcde JUL 0 2 2013 KKCR Kauai Community Radio 91.9FM and www.kkcr.org will be providing streamed and broadcast coverage for the first 3 hours of testimony. Kaua'i Community Radio, KKCR Hanalei KAQA Kilauea www.kkcr.org and Kauai Council will have some... In the wake of Hurricane 'Iniki's devastation in 1992, community members gathere...See More Kauai Community Radio, KKCR Hanalei KAQA Kilauea www.kkcr.org In the wake of Hurricane 'Iniki's devastation in 1992, community members gathere...See More 11 minutes ago Please submit testimony today! This ordinance will determine the fate of Hawaii re GMOs and pesticides. The biotech companies are using scare tactics and we need to mobilize. Seeds of Truth Aloha, here are some good information of the latest battle to regulate GMO farmers on kauai. This has become a HUGE battle at the County level on "The Right To Know" what and how much pesticides these Chemical Companies are putting on and in our lands. The State and Feds have not done an adequate job at protecting the "Health and Environment" of the people here in Hawaii at "ground zero" for GMO seed production in the Nation. The corporate powers have unleashed their bank accounts and workers against the local people power who are living with the results of unregulated and unprecedented amounts of Restricted Use Pesticides in their daily lives. See bottom for how you can help! Walter Ritte Date: Sun, 28 Jul 2013 19:25:30 -0400 From: pass2491 @gmail.com To: rittew @ hotmail.com Subject: FAQ's on Bill 2491: BASIC INFO TO SHARE WIDELY WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY! 2 Aloha Friends! Recent communications, such as robo-calls, radio and newspaper advertisements and events funded by the lobbying group called Hawaii Crop Improvement Association (HCIA), have been distorting the basic facts of Kaua'i County Bill 2491. HCIA represents the collective interests of Dow, Syngenta, BASF and Pioneer (DuPont) on Kaua'i. Now they are trying hard to divert the public discussion away from the bill's focus - the health and environmental impacts of pesticides. To help you with straightforward answers for friends and family, we created this FAQ sheet below. Use this email for conversations with loved ones, so that they understand Bill 2491. For a printable version, click bottom left on this URL. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) about Kaua'i County Bill 2491 What is Bill 2491? Kaua'i County Bill 2491 protects the people of Kaua'i based on our Right to Know. It allows us to know about highly toxic pesticides, called restricted use pesticides, used by the heaviest users of these chemicals on our island. The bill also sets up a buffer zone between where these dangerous pesticides are sprayed and schools, hospitals, residential areas and waterways. In addition, the bill requires that Kaua'i County conduct an environmental impact statement so we can all better understand the impacts of the agrochemical-GMO operations on our island. In the meantime the bill puts a temporary moratorium on new operations until we have a better understanding of the health, economic, and environmental risks. During that time, the bill also bans open air testing of pesticide and gmo experimenting. Any such activity must instead take place in a completely closed structure. Does Bill 2491 apply to all farmers? No. Please tell your friends and families that this bill does NOT affect local farmers. This bill applies only to the five heaviest users of restricted use pesticides and those companies involved with use and experimentation of genetically modified organisms. Currently small farmers do not use Restricted Use Pesticides to any large extent, and do not use or experiment with genetically modified organisms. By focusing on the heaviest users, Bill 2491 enormously increases protection of Kaua'i residents from the dangers of toxic chemical exposure. Five corporations - Dow, Syngenta, Pioneer, BASF and a coffee company use over 98% of the restricted use pesticides (RUP's) utilized by agricultural operations on Kauai. These companies together use over 18 tons per year of RUP's (this is the amount of pre- diluted, concentrated form). The agrochemical / GMO companies often spray many of these RUP's simultaneously (called "stacking") in combinations that are not regulated and have never been tested for their immediate and long term dangers to human health. The children and families of Kaua'i are therefore essentially the test community for these combinations of poisons. Will this bill affect garden nurseries, golf courses, landscapers and others who use small amounts of restricted use pesticides? 3 No. Bill 2491 DOES NOT apply to nurseries, golf courses, landscapers and other agricultural users of restricted use pesticides. That is because their use of restricted use pesticides is so small in comparison to the heaviest users of these chemicals - Dow, Syngenta, Pioneer, BASF, and a coffee farm. Why is Bill 2491 important? We need the Right to Know about restricted use pesticides to protect the health of our children and families. Doctors need to know when, where and what is being sprayed so that they can treat their patients more effectively. Farmers need to know to protect their crops from drift. Workers need to know more about the chemicals they handle. Everyone on our island has the Right to Know what chemicals they are being subjected to. There are no laws yet that give the people of Kaua'i the right to know which RUPs are being used, where and in what amounts. No studies have been conducted on the cumulative impacts on Kaua'i. We lack the necessary information to even begin to investigate the health impacts of 18 tons of restricted use pesticides in our neighborhoods. A Right to Know allows us to begin to protect ourselves. Who supports this bill? Bill 2491 has tremendous voter support, as indicated by the greatest number of testimonies in strong support of this bill by Kauai residents in the history of the County Council. * Moms, dads and and those with ohana and friends living within the wind and cloud drift of GMO fields support this bill because it helps them to protect their children's and their own health. * Health care professionals support this bill because it will help them deliver more effective patient care. * Farmers who grow produce for human consumption (ie, food and other health-friendly crops) support this bill because their crops and land are protected from the unknown consequences of pesticide drift and experimental GMOs. * Teachers support this bill because they have witnessed their students falling ill immediately after chemical application activities of these agrochemical / GMO companies. * Fishermen, surfers and ocean users support this bill because the Right to Know helps them to protect their waters and fragile ecosystems. * Even visitors and tourists support this bill because they care about this island and its people. * We should ALL support this bill. If you have the honor to call Kaua'i your home, it is YOUR kuleana to protect life and health of our future generations, our land, and our water. Is this bill good for the Kauai economy? Yes. Our island's reputation as a pure, untouched Garden Island is our greatest asset. Our treasure and greatest job generator is at risk. Kaua'i hosted over 1 million visitors in 2011 (7 million visitors statewide), and this number increases each year. Total visitor spending statewide reached $12.581 billion in 2011. Tourism contributed $1.06 billion to total state tax revenue in 4 2010. Our visitor industry is the biggest generator of jobs, over 145,000 statewide in 2010 - more than 17.4% of total employment. As our island and Hawaii becomes known as a ground zero for seed corn experiments and the massive pesticide use associated with test activities, our key economic industry and generator of jobs is at risk. Our visitors want to come to a place where the 'aina is healthy and the spirit of aloha, of caring for one another, is truly strong. They do not want to come to a pesticide island that is making people sick. To elevate people's lives, we need safe, well paying jobs where our people can advance. We need farming and agriculture that uses sustainable practices that are not chemical dependent. In this way, we build an economy that creates profits from life giving, aloha-based values. Passage of Bill 2491 may create new jobs because the companies will need to construct and maintain enclosures to contain their experimental and GMO pesticide uses, and will need to put up warning signs for the community before each spray cycle. Do the agrochemical / GMO companies provide many jobs on our island? Even by the industry's own numbers, they provide only 400 full time equivalent jobs (including mainland recruits) and 250 seasonal worker jobs, or 2% of jobs on Kauai. Many of the jobs are part time, contract work that makes use of seasonal low wage workers that come for a few months from the mainland. Some of the workers are hired as "human scarecrows" to manually chase birds and wildlife away from the agrochemical fields. These are not high quality jobs, and our ohana and workers deserve better alternatives and life opportunities. Most of the highest paying and well-paying jobs go to those who come from the mainland. The GMO companies have not been willing to provide a breakdown of their employment figures based on pay scale and job terms. They consider their numbers proprietary and not for the public to see. Will all the workers really lose those jobs if this bill passes? Not likely, but that depends on the companies themselves -- How much monetary profit do they want, and how many workers' lives are they willing to sacrifice to make that profit? The cost of doing business on Kaua'i includes the cost of being accountable and transparent to our island's people. The agrochemical companies will incur little disclosure cost under Bill 2491. The companies already need to keep internal records on pesticide application activity. Bill 2491 requires that they make this information readily accessible to the public. There is no reason from a financial standpoint for the agrochemical companies to tell all of their employees that they will be fired if Bill 2491 is passed. If workers lose their jobs it is because the agrochemical companies considered that profits at any cost were more important. Supporters of the bill care very much about the workers and their families. This bill will help to protect worker's health, as with all families on Kaua'i. Its disclosure provisions achieve better worker protections than the low level regulations of the EPA. There are currently several projects that are trying to find ways to give farm workers and current agrochemical employees safer, more sustainable alternatives to agrochemical work on 5 our land. Do workers really oppose the bill, or are many being told to do so by their employers? Testifiers who work for the agrochemical companies have been told by their employers that they would lose their jobs if Bill 2491 passed. Creating worker fear and threats like these are a cruel way to make employees, our ohana and friends, do the fighting for corporate activities on our island that endanger life, health and our collective future. Workers were paid, transported, and required by the agrochemical companies to show up at the County Council first hearing of the bill, to read testimonies for the agrochemical companies. But workers are speaking with friends and family now, and they are learning more about the benefits of Bill 2491 for them and their families. What is the cost of disclosure to these companies? Disclosure of already-collected information is not a significant cost to a multibillion-dollar industry. There is no reason from a financial standpoint for the agrochemical companies to tell all of their employees that they will be fired because of disclosure requirements. If workers are fired, it is only because the agrochemical companies' decision makers considered that profits at any cost were more important than their workers lives. The companies already keep internal records on pesticide application activity. Bill 2491 requires that they make this information readily accessible to the public. Our County leaders must require that disclosure is a cost of doing business on our island. Do Restricted Use Pesticides (RUP's) really cause illness? Yes. There is more and more research being released that shows links between RUP's and health impacts. Atrazine, for example, is known to cause birth defects, cancer and reproductive issues. Lorsban is known to cause impaired brain and nervous system functions in children and fetuses, even in minute amounts. Some RUPs are shown to effect brain cancer, autism, and heart and liver problems. Children are at especially high risk of illness from pesticide exposure. For these reasons, many of the RUPs used on Kaua'i are banned in other countries. There are also peer reviewed studies that show that between 1996-2011, GMO activity accounted for an additional 404 million pounds of pesticides during that period. Much of that additional pesticide was used for testing activities, such as the agrochemical activities on Kaua'i. Do the people of Kauai have the right to decide on this law? Yes. The County Council is legally required to protect the people of Kaua'i. Bill 2491 has been reviewed by many attorneys at the state and national level who concluded that there is nothing in the law that prevents Kaua'i from deciding how we 6 want to protect the 'aina, our children and communities. Additionally, our State Constitution requires that the State and counties: "shall provide for the protection and promotion of the public health" and "shall have the power to promote and maintain a healthful environment"and "shall conserve and protect Hawaii's natural beauty and all natural resources, including land, water, air, minerals, and energy sources, and shall promote the development and utilization of these resources in a manner consistent with their conservation and in furtherance of the self-sufficiency of the State. All public natural resources are held in trust by the State for the benefit of the people." But shouldn't the Federal government, EPA and State be protecting us? Don't they have the resources and knowledge to do so? Ideally, all levels of government would be working to protect the public good. But the simple fact is that they are not, and we need to address this serious current issue of massive pesticide use now. Because Kauai has more experimental pesticide and GMO operations than any other county in the State, our circumstances are unique and we must lead the way. The agrochemical industry claims that the EPA already regulates restricted use pesticides, but the US Government Accountability Office has officially found that the EPA is severely lacking in its ability to regulate pesticide use. Read the US General Accountability Office Report here. What is the Waimea residents' lawsuit against Pioneer about? Waimea citizens are concerned about the impacts of Pioneer's (Dupont) experimental pesticide and GMO operations on their health, property, the environment, and farmers. In 2011, residents filed a suit citing multiple violations of law in pesticide and land management upwind of homes and schools. Read the official Court claim by Waimea residents here. How can I help Pass Bill 2491? YOUR HELP RIGHT NOW IS VERY IMPORTANT. Every letter and testimony counts! 1. Submit your testimony to CouncilTestimony@kauai.gov . The County Council NEEDS to hear from you as a concerned Kaua'i and Hawaii resident. 2. You can also testify in person, or just come to show support, on July 31 at the Kauai Veterans Center at 3215 Kapule Highway, between Lihue Airport and Rice Street. Click here for the Garden Island announcement for this public hearing. 3. Sign the petition and learn more about Bill 2491 at the Bill 2491 Campaign website, StopPoisoningParadise.orq. 4. Educate yourself and others. Stay connected to through StopPoisoningParadise.orq and join the movement of thousands that want the Right to Know on Kaua'i. Mahalo and imua!! Pass The Bill Pass the Bill Coalition Forward this email This email was sent to rittewhotmail.com by pass2491 @gmail.com Update Profile/Email Address Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribeTm ! Privacy Policy. Pass the Bill Coalition ! 3433 Rice Street Lihue HI 96766 8 J Yoshimoto From: Sharon Willeford <slwsurfing @gmail.com> Sent: Thursday,July 25, 2013 6:54 PM To: keoff @co.hawaii.hi.us; Greggor Ilagan; bford @co.hawaii.hi.us;zkern @co.hawaii.hi.us; dkanuha @co.hawaii.hi.us; donishi @co.hawaii.hi.us;jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us; Margaret Wille;vpoindexter @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Fwd: slwsurfing sent you a video: "At Least 21 Children Died After Eating Free School Meal In India" I know how it feels! I'm Not DEAD yet ....but PLEASE protect the children! Subject: slwsurfing sent you a video: "At Least 21 Children Died After Eating Free School Meal In India" To: slwsurfing @gmail.com CI CZ '2n slwsurfing has shared a video with you on YouTube ,-c in rr" X ter^ N - VS - At Least 21 Children Died After Eating Free School Meal In India by MOXNL..t VS-gOt C M July 17, 2013 BBC News http://MOXNews.com 1 J Yoshimoto From: Sharon Willeford <slwsurfing @gmail.com> Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2013 6:57 PM To: keoff @co.hawaii.hi.us; Greggor Ilagan; dkanuha @co.hawaii.hi.us; dsheather @co.hawaii.hi.us;jyoshimoto @co.hawaii.hi.us;zkern @co.hawaii.hi.us; bford @co.hawaii.hi.us; Margaret Wille;vpoindexter @co.hawaii.hi.us; donishi @co.hawaii.hi.us Subject: Fwd: slwsurfing sent you a video: "MONSANTO VIDEO REVOLT I FOX News Reporters Fired For Exposing Monsanto" 22,000 videos were uploaded yesterday, to YouTube alone, for the Monsanto Video Revolt. Here's one we thought you might want to see and share. #MonsantoVideoRevolt#GMOFREE#PeopleOverProfits#StandTogether#GMOFHI Subject: slwsurfing sent you a video: "MONSANTO VIDEO REVOLT FOX News Reporters Fired For Exposing Monsanto" To: slwsurfing @gmail.com slwsurfing has shared a video with you on YouTube 22,000 videos were uploaded yesterday, to YouTube alone, for the Monsanto Video Revolt. Here's one we thought you might want to see and share. #MonsantoVideoRevolt#GMOFREE#PeopleOverProfits#StandTogether #GMOFHI more 1 MONSANTO VIDEO REVOLT I FOX News Reporters Fired For Exposing Monsanto by organ v:,s.'=ant Monsanto EXPOSED! Help center r Email options a Report spam Yoe--rube, LLC 001 CI ierF j Ave, Bruno, CA 9406.,1-1.; 2