Hawaiian lawmakers killed a bill that would have required agribusiness companies like Monsanto and Syngenta to notify nearby residents before spraying pesticides, says Civil Beat.
“Reporting provisions requiring notifications for each application would be very onerous and difficult to carry out,” testified Warren Mayberry, DuPont Pioneer’s senior manager of government affairs. “Bill 790 would negatively impact integrated pest management practices on our farms that allow us to respond quickly and only as needed.”
Last year, Hawaii’s fight over pesticides and GMOs gained national attention when anti-GMO rules passed in three counties were overturned by a federal appeals court. The vast majority of GMO corn planted in the Midwestern cornfields originates from fields in Hawaii.
While attempts to mandate pesticide disclosure haven’t been successful, Hawaii’s Department of Agriculture is now posting voluntary pesticide information from major companies on the islands, says Civil Beat.
Monsanto, Syngenta, DuPont Pioneer, Mycogen Seeds, Dow AgroSciences and Kauai Coffee Co. have all agreed to reveal which kinds of restricted-use pesticides they use and the size of the area where those substances are sprayed. But critics say locations are inexact and that the information isn’t comprehensive. Monsanto has only submitted data for the month of January 2014, for example, whereas DuPont Pioneer has information going back to February 2013. Also, the companies don’t include information on general-use pesticides like glyphosate or dicamba.
“Voluntary programs have an abysmal history of regulatory failure, particularly when it comes to environmental protection,” said Ashley Lukens, who heads the Hawaii branch of the national advocacy group Center for Food Safety. “I think more transparency is always an improvement, but this is in no way a replacement for mandatory disclosure.”
Pesticide disclosures have been Mandatory in California since 1990.