HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0489.440 2018-2020 From: Jane Taylor
To: Council Testimony
Subject: Testimony on Bill 101 about Herbicides
Rate: Saturday,November 02,2019 7:50:37 PM
I very much hope the county will finally stop poisoning our roads and parks where our
children play and we walk and sit. Please understand that whatever convenience you lose,this
is an issue of health and quality of life.
I have a serious personal sensitivity to roundup herbicide. I might be considered to be the
canary in the coal mine. I am sure I"m not the only one with issues.
As you know, the fact that it has been sprayed doesn't show up right away. I still have trouble
with it when it is older, but it is most acute before any discoloration shows on the plants. I can
be sick for a month or more due to exposure at this undetectable stage By exposure I mean
just walking through the area, let alone being sprayed (something I have proven time and
again by driving unwittingly past the county spray truck along the highway)The worst is
breathing in the spray which leads to respiratory distress, dizziness, and confusion, but just
being where it has been sprayed over the past week or even two is enough to give me trouble.
It reduces my immunity and causes respiratory issues. I know the road crew are careful not to
actually spray by my house,which I appreciate, but that does not mean I don't have a problem
with it out in the rest of the community.
So please do come through and get rid of Glyphosate and other herbicides. It is now proven.
Monsanto was convicted in New York years and years ago for falsifying their safety data. It is
time to stop supporting a dishonest company.
Perhaps it would be worth a little extra money to utilize more mechanical means instead of
other chemical alternatives, and maybe even try to make our roadside a landscape asset and
beautiful, since we are heavily dependent on tourism. RoundUp is REALLY UGLY in
addition to being hazardous.
A few other facts: As a botany major at the University of Hawaii (Manoa Campus) I did a lot
of plant experimentation. The professor used to set up the pesticide tests and leave the building
because he told us chronic exposure was too dangerous for him. He said our one or two time
exposures would be ok. Perhaps it wasn't as now I have this problem. However, it is also not
ok for all those children who sit waiting for the bus in saturated ground. How much of our
community wide illnesses might not happen if we were not exposed so much and so often?
And finally, did you know that spraying roundup on grass promotes weed growth?You kill off
the grass and the seeds of the weeds sprout faster. Really look at places that are sprayed
regularly. Compare to areas that are mowed and not sprayed. You will see the mowed areas
are remaining grass and the sprayed areas get more and more weeds and spread wider and
wider.
Thank you for considering this,
.lane Taylor
Kamuela, Hawaii 96743
Comm. N0.0q.W
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Ref. Mare NOV 0 6 201
"Wisdom demands a new orientation of science and technology towards the organic, the
gentle, the non-violent, the elegant and beautiful." E.F. Schumacher.