HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0489.015 2018-2020 From: Katy Benjamin Yoga
To: Council Testimony
Subject: vote in favor of Bill 101
Date: Monday,October 14,2019 12:44:11 PM r r
Aloha Honorable County of Hawaii Councilmembers.
Please vote in favor of Bill 101 to limit the County's use of chemical herbicides.
I live on the water directly across from Chieftess Kapiolani Elementary School.Separating my yard and the school
is the drainage canal,the bottom of the Waiakea Stream.For years I have watched,with horror and disgust,as
county employees have sprayed Roundup along the special education preschool fence line,on the concrete,and
directly down into the plants along the water.This waterway is,at most,300 feet from the Wailoa fishing ponds
where people fish to feed their families.In addition to this,county spraying of Roundup along road sides makes it
nauseating and dangerous to drive following the spray for days.You can taste it when it's fresh.
We are in a mass extinction on earth.The rate of insects going extinct is nothing short of devastating.At the base of
the pyramid of life,insects in healthy and supported quantities are essential to the survival of all life,including
humans,but also the billions of other life forms we share this planet with.There is simply no good reason,knowing
what we do of the devastating effects of pesticides and herbicides,to continue spending taxpayer dollars to poison
our lives,the lives of those in our ecosystems,and our waters.
Children have unique susceptibilities to the potential toxicity of herbicides,yet they are still being exposed every
day when they go to County parks or walk or ride along the roads.
Long-term exposure is linked with increased risks of cancer including non-Hodgkin's lymphoma,as we learned
from the recent visit by Dewayne Lee Johnson,the school groundskeeper who won the lawsuit against Monsanto for
the connection between Roundup and his cancer.It is also connected to miscarriages,attention deficit disorder and
reduced production of sex hormones.It can also trigger aggressive breast cancer when combined with other risk
factors.
Studies indicate that glyphosate can contaminate streams,which empty into our oceans,and affect sea life including
fish and coral.Problems with drift of glyphosate herbicides occur frequently.
Fortunately,the County has chosen alternatives to toxic chemicals,such as the choice to use goats to clear brush at
the Hilo Soccer Field.It was more cost-effective than regular maintenance,and safe for our communities,streams
and coastline ecosystems,too! Let's expand these non-toxic alternatives,and transition away from the use of toxic
chemicals for land management.Other options such as planting native plants to fill in where"weeds"have grown,
vinegar,burning,steaming and a large array of other creative options exist instead of threatening children,wildlife,
and the county workers who are all exposed to these dangerous poisons.
Mahalo,
Katy Benjamin,Waiakea,Hilo
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ef. Date—OCT 1 5 2019