With Syngenta already under investigation for the alleged misuse of pesticides in Hawaii, the EPA is now looking into Monsanto, Terminix, and Wonder Farm [a Hawaiian agricultural operation] for allegedly ignoring pesticide laws in Hawaii, says Civil Beat.
Terminix, a Tennessee-based pest-control company, is under review after one of its employees in Kauai claimed that they lacked proper equipment to safely spray fumigants. The complaint also said that employees did not use scales to weigh fumigants or clearing devices, which determine whether a building is safe to enter after a chemical application.
“Terminix was fined $10 million in March for using methyl bromide, a banned pesticide, in the Virgin Islands,” says Civil Beat. “The toxic pesticide poisoned a Delaware family vacationing in St. John, including two teenagers who sustained permanent brain damage.” Last year, the company was again sued when a 10-year-old boy was paralyzed after Terminix sprayed his home for termites.
Officials have not provided details on exactly why Monsanto and Wonder Farm are being investigated. But “Scott Enright, director of the state Department of Agriculture, said the agency refers cases to the EPA when they involve federal jurisdiction, repeat violations or serious allegations,” says Civil Beat.
“If we have someone who we believe is intentionally not working with the department in using pesticides correctly, we hand them off to the big guy,” Enright told Civil Beat, referring to the Wonder Farm case.
In addition to these three cases, the EPA is looking into two others in Hawaii. The most high-profile of which “involves Syngenta, a seed company that operates on Kauai and Oahu. Ten Syngenta workers on Kauai went to the hospital in January after walking onto a field where chlorpyrifos had been applied 20 hours earlier,” says Civil Beat.