KPD Officer Faces Negligent Homicide Charge

Kauai Police Officer Irvin Magayanes was arrested yesterday on one count of negligent homicide in the second degree for the traffic death of Michael Sheehan Kocher Jr. last January.

Kocher, 19, reportedly was walking on Kaumualii Highway near Kaumakani when he was hit by a car at about 9:35 p.m. on Jan. 3, 2015. He was lying in the road, but alive, when a police car driven by Magayanes reportedly struck him again while responding to the call for help. Kauai police conducted an investigation and forwarded the results to Kauai Prosecutor Justin Kollar's office.

Kollar's office found probable cause that the serious injuries allegedly caused by Magayanes proved fatal to Kocher, a Hanapepe resident. They secured an arrest warrant that was signed by Judge Trudy Senda.

Magayanes was booked, with bail set by the court at $1,000. Kauai Police Chief Darryl Perry said he removed Magayanes' police powers and assigned him to administrative duties pending the outcome of his trial. He has been with KPD for two years and had no disciplinary actions or complaints against him.

Kocher's family had expressed dismay that months elapsed without knowing what was going on. Perry said he sympathized with the family; however, the investigation was complex and time-consuming. 

"The events of this tragic traffic collision, which led to the untimely death of Michael Kocher, Jr., lies heavily on the hearts of all KPD employees, and we extend our deepest sympathy to the Kocher ‘ohana," Perry said in a written statement.

“Our hearts also go out to Officer Magayanes, whose every intention that night was to assist in an emergency.

 “I am confident that our department conducted a thorough and objective investigation, as we do with all of our cases, regardless of those involved."

Kudos to Justin for moving ahead, even though it isn't easy to pursue charges against a police officer, especially in a case like this. But it was only right, especially since the OPA has been aggressively prosecuting motor vehicle accidents that result in injuries and death.

Magayanes is the second KPD officer to face criminal charges this year. Sgt. Colin Nesbitt was charged with driving under the influence after he crashed his truck while off-duty. The Kauai OPA has referred that case to the state Attorney General to avoid any conflict of interest.

Musings: Spiral of Silence

Flew into Reno, shocked by the sprawl. Things sure had changed since last I was there: 1979, driving out to attend college in Denver, my 1964 VW bug crawling up the Truckee pass at 35 mph, me praying all the way it would make it.

From the Reno airport I drove west, stunned by the clear-cutting, the Truckee River a mere trickle. My destination was South Lake Tahoe, where UC Davis is hosting an international conference on transgenic animal research.

I've spent the last few days immersed in talk of chimeras, clones, genetic editing, gene therapy, pluripotent stem cells, CRISPARs and other stuff that was way over my head.

That I was there at all might surprise Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser, who has been proving he flat out makes stuff up by spreading the rumor that I'm being paid to promote the agrochemical companies. Actually, I'm not getting paid to promote anything, and I'm interested in learning more about all aspects of biotech. Like many antis, Gary seems to think biotech is only and all about the multinational seed companies, when there's a whole lot more to it.

Like cows genetically engineered to produce plasma with antibodies used to make vaccines. Goats engineered to produce lysozyme, an enzyme found in human breast milk, saliva and tears that shows promise in preventing and treating the intestinal illnesses that sicken and kill tens of thousands of children in developing nations. Transgenic sterile male mosquitoes that are proving effective in controlling dengue fever. Sheep and cattle resistant to trypanosomiasis, a disease that sickens and kills livestock around the world and is particularly devastating to African farmers.

I don't pretend to understand the science, but I'm fascinated by the social and environmental implications of the technology, and most especially, the irrationalism of the rabid anti-GMO movement.

As one researcher noted: “They'll think nothing of putting a genetically engineered product directly into their veins, but they won't eat it.”

Because genetic engineering in medicine is going great guns, with no complaints or outcry, but GE agriculture is under attack.

Sitting at dinner with a group of researchers, I relayed some of what's been going on in Hawaii with the anti-GMO movement the past few years — the threats, the intimidation, the harassment, the bullying, the fear-mongering and most of all, the intense disinformation campaign led by people like Gary Hooser and his pals at the Center for Food Safety.

I recounted that I'd been an avid environmentalist — and though that hasn't changed, I've lost all faith in the “green” movement — and opposed to GMOs until I witnessed the ugliness of the anti-GMO movement, and started doing more research into biotech.

They all laughed when I said that people — folks like Felicia Cowden and Shannon Rudolph — were spreading the rumor that I must've suffered a brain injury because they otherwise couldn't fathom how I'd so dramatically shifted my views.

“You mean, they didn't understand you'd educated yourself?” asked one scientist, incredulous.

Yeah, it's a difficult concept to grasp for those who are gripped by ignorance. 

Another researcher told of the poll that asked people whether food with DNA should be labeled, and 70 percent said yes. When asked if GMOs should be labeled, the figure went up to 73 percent. So only about 3% of the population is rabidly anti-GMO, but they're manipulating the ignorance of the masses because of course all food contains DNA.

It made me think of a quote I'd read in The Garden Island, in a story about the end of WWII. “It’s amazing that the Japanese — so small a little country — could occupy China,” [Marine J.Q.] Smith said. “But it was all out of fear, people would be scared to death. They controlled by fear.”

And that's what we're seeing here, with the anti-GMO activists viciously attacking scientists, journalists, farmers, policy makers and anyone else who speaks up with a different point of view. It's called intimidation, and it's fed by a concept known as the spiral of silence. People don't want to risk being socially isolated, so they often don't speak up when they believe their views are in the minority. This allows the loud-mouthed bullies, with their misinformation and nonsense, to dominate the debate.

Which is why GloFish — a fluorescent aquarium fish — is the only GE animal approved for commercial sale. Yet other applications with humanitarian, environmental and animal welfare benefits languish in the regulatory process, or wither from lack of funding because investors are put off by an arbitrary, highly politicized regulatory process fueled by misguided activism.

It's time to turn the tables. Folks need to educate themselves about this technology because it's not going away. New things are often scary — people fought artificial insemination and machine-produced ice, for example — and they can threaten the economic interests of groups. But that shouldn't stop us from talking about this technology honestly and intelligently, rather than allowing a small group to control policy through intimidation and fear.

Musings: Valued and Values

As folks marched through Waikiki yesterday calling for “aloha aina” — narrowly defined as the demise of biotech seed crops and no new telescopes on Haleakala and Mauna Kea — a much more powerful force of change is already at work in the Islands.

It's called money. Really big money. According to a Bloomberg News article:

“The next migration of wealth and development is now moving to Kauai,” said Chris Fair, president of Resonance Consultancy, which produces reports on travel and leisure spending by affluent Americans.

It seems a “record number” — 23, to be exact — of $20 million-plus homes are now up for sale in Hawaii, catering to the big bucks from Northern California's Silicon Valley.

The article quotes Matt Beall, the North Shore Kauai-based co-owner of Hawaii Life Real Estate Brokers:

It’s certainly a higher number of very high-end sales in recent times than at any other time in Hawaii.

Hawaii Life, you may recall, is the luxury real estate company that donated handsomely to the campaign of Dustin Barca, the anti-GMO candidate who made an unsuccessful bid for the Kauai mayor's seat.

And Beall's wife, Elif, is the acting executive director of the Hawaii Alliance for Progressive Action, the anti-GMO group headed by Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser. HAPA was a sponsor of Sunday's “aloha aina” march, as was SHAKA, which is headed up upscale Maui Realtor Mark Sheehan.

Do you suppose it's all just a coincidence, this ongoing close connection between high-end Realtors and the anti-GMO movement?

In a blog post titled “Why I March For Aloha Aina,” Hooser wrote:

The Aloha ‘Āina Unity March is to express political views regarding issues that are impacting the management and use of land and natural resources in Hawai`i.

At the forefront of these issues are the construction of TMT on Mauna Kea, regulation of pesticide use and genetically modified organisms on agricultural lands in rural communities throughout the state, and mismanagement of agricultural lands across the State.

Yet even as they obsess over agricultural land, he and the rest say absolutely nothing about its continuing gentrification, which takes it out of meaningful production forever. And though state studies showed urban areas on Oahu have the highest concentrations of pesticides, they are concerned only with pesticide use in rural areas. Why? 

Hooser goes on to blast the Agribusiness Development Corp. for leasing land to the seed companies:

ADC...is focused on the revenue generated from the high lease rents paid by these large chemical companies.

As opposed to, say, his Realtor pals who are focused on the revenues generated from the high sales prices paid by these well-heeled individuals.

And the rich guys just keep selling to other rich guys, for more and more money.

For example, the article cites this sale:

Actor Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith, sold their home on Kauai’s North Shore in 2011 for $20 million to a trust linked to Russian heiress Ekaterina Rybolovleva. Last month it was listed for $29.5 million. The 28-acre property boasts an ocean view; a gym, pool and adjoining hot tub; and an orchard with avocado, grapefruit, star fruit, banana and orange trees, according to the listing.

Yes, that's what's happening to agricultural land in Kilauea, while all the North Shore anti-GMO activists are screaming about the westside seed crops.

Gary, who has fed off the public trough for decades now as a politician, and before that sold real estate, fails to grasp a very basic concept here: ADC has to earn lease money in order to manage the 15,000 acres of ag land under its jurisdiction, which includes developing ag parks and maintaining ag infrastructure for small farmers.

And in his typical hypocritical fashion, Gary dings the very same government he works for:

Instead of seeking first to protect and preserve via Aloha ‘Āina and embracing the precautionary principle, our government leans increasingly toward a cost/benefit analysis. The sad part is that the people and the environment are paying the costs and the corporations and their enablers are reaping the benefit.

So tell us, Gary, how do you justify missing so many of the Council meetings that you're paid to attend with taxpayer dollars?Or having your HAPA group further screw the taxpayers by claiming a nonprofit tax status when you're actually engaged in political advocacy and lobbying? Aren't you reaping the profits while the people pay the costs? 

Speaking of hypocrites, musician Neil Young is among the property owners now cashing in. Beall's Hawaii Life has listed Young's three-acre property on the Big Island's Kohala Coast for $24.5 million. It's got 830 feet of ocean frontage, a five-bedroom beach house and two guest cottages. He bought it in 1997, no doubt for considerably less than the current sales price.

Young most recently enriched himself by pandering to the anti-GMO movement with his anti-Monsanto songs and tour. But did he ever, say, host a benefit concert for the homeless in Hawaii? Help some small Island farmers with start-up money? What's his contribution to "aloha aina" aside from the anti-ag agitprop?

At least Realtor Shawn Smith is working with Facebook owner Mark Zuckerberg, who reportedly spent $100 million on North Shore Kauai land last year, to develop a local giving program, continuing a tradition that began with Larry Bowman and Falko Properties. What has Matt done, besides blow money on Dustin?

Gary ends with:

This is not about being for or against science, or GMOs or telescopes or even development.  This is about putting the values of people and the environment first.

Mmm, yeah, sure. But first, which people are you talking about? And whose values? 

Touring the Kauai Seed Fields: Part II

We all know the Kauai seed crop companies use pesticides. 

What's far less clear is whether those pesticides are leaving their fields. We've heard claims that toxic chemicals are migrating into surface water during rain storms, and that spray drift and contaminated dust are blowing into homes, schools and hospitals.

Indeed, it's a favorite tactic of anti-GMO activists to don some sort of mask to underscore their belief that the air isn't fit to breathe. (Btw, I have no idea where how they came up with "196,000 pounds," or the concept of "GMO chemicals," but such hyperbole is in part what prompted me to visit the seed fields.)

It always seemed that it would be relatively easy to determine if pesticides were migrating off-site: Simply test the water, the air, the soil, dust in people's homes. County water officials regularly test drinking water sources, and have found no unsafe levels of pesticides — results borne out by federal and state atrazine studies that found "no exceedances of health-based or ecological regulatory standards” for atrazine. 

The limited state studies done so far detected only negligible amounts of pesticides in agricultural areas on Kauai, though additional surface water testing was recommended, especially during storms. Ironically, urban Oahu had higher pesticide levels than any rural area in the state.

I know the anti-GMO Hawaii SEED failed to detect airborne pesticides during its own drift monitoring tests, and I haven't seen any water samples from Surfrider that show pesticide contamination. Nor do I recall attorneys presenting any evidence of pesticide contaminated dust in their lawsuit against Pioneer. And though an article by Paul Towers of the Pesticide Action Network claimed “Biotech Giant Found Guilty of Pesticide Contamination,” the verdict against Pioneer dealt strictly with the nuisance effects of dust, and not pesticides at all.

Yet still the fear persists, in part because people like Paul write things like this:

Why the lawsuit? Picture red (pesticide-contaminated) dust blanketing your house and yard, regularly blowing over from neighboring fields.

While the judge directed attorneys to focus only on impacts to physical property, it’s hard to ignore the health effects of pesticides drifting through the air or contained in dust blanketing homes. According to court documents, the pesticides sprayed by DuPont in Kauai have been linked to cancer, reproductive toxicity, birth defects, disruption of the endocrine, immune and nervous systems, liver damage and more.

Yes, we all know pesticides can cause health problems. But first, there must be exposure, either acute or chronic. Is that actually happening? 

When I toured the seed companies, I asked for a demonstration of the big Miller sprayer that is used to apply pesticides. I was surprised to discover they use the same machine to apply fertilizers, organic pesticides and even micronutrients. At Dow, at least half the spray time is devoted to the application of micronutrients, according to Peter Wiederoder, director of the Kauai facility.

I also learned that Councilwoman JoAnn Yukimura had requested a demonstration of the spray rig, back when the Council was deliberating the pesticide/GMO regulatory Bill 2491, which was later overturned. She was the only member who wanted to see for herself how a spay rig works.

The label for each pesticide specifies a maximum wind speed for safe, effective application — typically 10-15 mph. Dow, however, has its own limit of 10 mph.

Though some residents have complained that the companies spray in the middle of the night to hide their operations, application times are determined by wind speed, rain, the type of pest that's being targeted and other factors, such as whether leaves drooping in the mid-day heat give insects a place to hide. The most favorable times are typically very early morning and late afternoon. Operators have the final say, and they can nix a planned application if conditions aren't right in the fields.

The spray rigs are super high-tech, and computerized to reduce human error. They're programmed to automatically calculate how much of the chemical is released, and they add the pesticide to the water in-line, right before it hits the spray nozzle. The machines can be put away with unused product, so the companies don't dump it just to get rid of it. And since pesticides can cost thousands of dollars per acre, they have a strong economic incentive not to waste.

The spray nozzles point downward, because they're designed to deliver the chemical directly onto the plant's leaves in order to kill the insects. The boom is positioned right above the plant.

On the day I visited, a brisk wind was blowing at least 20-25 mph. The Miller sprayer had been filled with water for the demonstration, and I stood close to the boom. Even at maximum intensity, in a strong wind, the fine mist drifted no more than 5 feet, and remained very low to the ground. It seemed impossible that drift could be blowing hundreds or thousands of feet into inhabited areas, even on a windy day. For significant drift to occur at all would require super strong winds coupled with wonton recklessness by an operator.

As I stood there, my feet drenched with water from the spray rig, I recalled the testimony of one of the spray operators during hearings on Bill 2491. I don't remember his name, or who he worked for, but he was a big guy, and near tears, absolutely devastated to hear people claim the spray rig operators didn't care if they were poisoning their neighbors. My family lives there, too, I recall him saying. My kids go to those schools. I take my job very seriously. I would never do anything to harm anyone.

But even if the companies employed only sociopaths who don't care about their neighbors, they do care about their crops. And from a practical standpoint, they want to minimize drift because they often have numerous small fields, with crops at various stages of maturity, just 10 feet part. “We're confident drift isn't happening,” said Judith Rivera, a Pioneer research scientist and Kauai station manager. “We would see the damage in the adjacent fields.”

So what about Paul Towers' vivid imagery — “Picture red (pesticide-contaminated) dust”? Well, for starters, the dust is red because it comes from clay soil.

And the companies say they're not getting a lot of pesticide on the ground because they're applying it directly on the plants, where the insects are. “You want pesticides to stay on the plant's leaves, where it's effective, not be in the dirt,” Judith said. “The soil is not the target. It's the plant.”

Judith also dismissed concerns about toxins lingering in the soil long after harvest. “Pesticides are now designed to break down with exposure to UV (sunlight) to help prevent them from accumulating in soil, as they did in the past,” she said. The companies also have irrigation on and water trucks operating when they're growing a crop, “so it's not easy for the fields to release dust when pesticides are sprayed.”

Still, it's within the realm of possibility. I reviewed numerous federal agency websites that said pesticides can migrate from agricultural areas via wind and surface water, so a robust environmental sampling program would be useful.

Curiously, though activists have lobbied for stricter pesticide disclosure rules and buffer zones, they have not clamored for additional environmental testing, nor have they used their substantial resources to conduct their own tests. Or if they did, they certainly haven't released the results.

The same government websites also noted that pesticide applicators and field workers are the most likely to suffer exposure. Applicators are required to undergo regular blood tests to ensure pesticides are not accumulating in their bodies. The state Department of Health says there have been no reports of elevated pesticide levels among seed company workers.

Based on data from the Hawaii Poison Center, harmful pesticide exposure most often occurs in the home:

Of the 4,800 human pesticide exposure calls, approximately 90% of the exposures occurred in a residence, 4.4% in the workplace and 1% in a school. The remaining 4% consisted of miscellaneous locations (i.e., other/unknown, public areas, health care facilities, and food service.)

Meanwhile, a company called MyExposome is developing a wristband that “acts like a sponge for chemicals, such as pesticides, endocrine disrupters, and flame retardants,” according to a write up in The Week. Aspiring “citizen scientists” wear it for a week, then ship it back to the lab where it's analyzed for 1,400 different toxins. However, it doesn't tell you exactly how much of each chemical you've been exposed to, or where exposure occurred.

The start-up company is still trying to raise dough through a Kickstarter campaign, offering a wristband and chemical analysis for $995 — $1,495 adds a flame retardant assessment — with an estimated Fall 2015 delivery.

It might be a worthwhile investment for an activist group and/or the chronically fearful and paranoid. Though it could send them into a catatonic state when they discover just how many industrial chemicals are embedded in their smart phones, beauty products, furniture, cars, home furnishings, pet products and other accoutrements of 21^st Century American life.

Next up: A look at Pioneer's pesticide container.

Musings: Kapakahi Kine

Someone left this astute comment on a recent post that featured photographs of mostly white people blowing pu to protest global trade talks under way at a luxurious Kaanapali hotel:

Not that long ago, the protest would be about the resort in the background of that pu photo.

But now, thanks to the influence of the anti-GMO/anti-agriculture movement, tourism is the friend and farming is the enemy.

The latest offspring of the strange union between the anti-GMO/anti-ag/pro-tourism movement and some Hawaiian groups is Sunday's Aloha Aina Unity March. 

According to its Facebook page:

The Aloha ‘Āina Unity March is to express political views regarding issues that are impacting the management and use of land and natural resources in Hawaii. At the forefront of these issues are the construction of TMT on Mauna Kea, regulation of pesticide use on agricultural lands in rural communities throughout the state [never mind the studies showing urban areas have the highest pesticide levels] and mismanagement of agricultural lands across the State. 

By marching in Waikiki, the hub of the tourism industry, one goal we hope to achieve is to call attention to the fact that if our policy makers continue on this trend of over-development and exploitation of natural resources, Hawaii will undoubtedly lose its appeal as a picturesque tourist destination.

And maintaining and promoting Hawaii as “a picturesque tourist destination” is now compatible with the goals of the Hawaiian sovereignty movement and the concept of aloha aina? When did that happen?

Another post exhorts:

The decision makers of this state have failed us. Let's organize unity among our lāhui and the various Hawaiian and environmental organizations in Hawai'i. Let's huli the system in 2016 and get aloha 'āina warriors in office. Pūpūkahi I Holomua!

Our long term goal is to build a pac with the various groups and endorse our own candidates next election. What we need to do is get our people in office.

Which people, exactly? Who do they have that's electable, or that didn't lose power in the Legislative shake up at the end of the last session?

But though they talk about politics and pacs, march organizers are careful to skirt the touchy issue of independence:

Steven Tayama: is there a reason why there is nothing about sovereignty on the flyer?


Aloha 'Āina Project: the march is about aloha aina unity


Steven Tayama: Thats great. Its not what I asked.



Aloha 'Āina Project: There are people on each side of the fence, we're just trying to unify people for aloha aina


Yeah, and don't keep bringing up all those pesky sticking points. 

In its story on how some opponents of the Thirty Meter Telescope are joining the protest, Civil Beat includes this quote from Lilikala Kameeleihiwa, University of Hawaii professor and director of the Hawaiian Studies Center:

“The land is our grandmother. Caring for the land, or malama aina, is “one of the basic tenets of Hawaiian philosophy and culture. If we don’t protect the land then we are not Hawaiian anymore. This is kind of a defining moment.”

So the expression of this defining moment is to march through Waikiki to warn the tourists that the Islands won't be such a great place for a vacay if a telescope goes up on Mauna Kea and the seed companies continue to operate?

Though flyers for the march play up the “protector” role, by marching through Waikiki the message is this: We're here to protect Hawaii for the tourists.

Yet it wasn't long ago that environmentalists were trying to protect Hawaii from a voracious visitor industry, which drives development and gentrification, gobbles up ag land and pushes locals out.

Ironically, one of the march supporters is the Sierra Club, which at one time was pestering the state to assess the impact of tourism on the Islands. But even though visitor numbers keep growing, and no assessment, much less mitigation, has been pursued, tourism is suddenly all-G and telescopes, even with an EIS, are all bad. 

Environmental groups now value tourism more highly than science and agriculture, both of which have a lighter footprint and provide advanced educational and employment opportunities that will never be achieved in the visitor industry.

Civil Beat doesn't even mention that this march is orchestrated by the anti-GMO movement, though it's clear from the list of sponsors that it's the dominant force. Yet the anti-GMO groups — Babes Against Biotech, Hawaii SEED, HAPA, SHAKA, Center for Food Safety — are so culturally tone deaf that they doctored a reviled stereotypical hapa-haole image for their organic cotton goody bag:

Is it just me, or has everything been turned on its head here?

A friend called yesterday, and noted that Kauai Councilman Gary Hooser used to be viewed as a progressive politician. He "got " progressive issues and was in a position, as Senate president [correction, majority leader], to advance them. But then he binged on ego, got derailed by the anti-GMO movement and lost credibility and influence.

So now Hawaii progressives are rudderless and deeply conflicted. Those out front claim they want to protect and promote agriculture, even as they work to destroy it. They claim they're aloha aina warriors even as they seek to protect a tourism industry that is environmentally destructive, totally unsustainable and deleterious to the Hawaiian culture.

They claim they're culturally sensitive even as they focus solely on a telescope and ignore homelessness, substance abuse, a skewed criminal justice system, a corrupt Office of Hawaiian Affairs, a dysfunctional Hawaiian Homelands system and all the other issues and structures that are bleeding Hawaiians pale.

But nevah mind all that. March organizers are preparing to bus in folks from Waianae and Nanakuli, just to make sure the event has a browner complexion than is otherwise likely.

You can also order a sign on line, to be assured you're delivering a pre-vetted and accepted message.

But be sure to "wear red." That way they know you're one of them.

Just don't be surprised, if and when the Waikiki tourists look up from their mai tais, beach towels and shopping bags, to hear them say, “So what's the problem? This is paradise.”

Touring the Kauai Seed Fields: Part I

Countless charges have been leveled against the Kauai seed companies in recent years.

They've been accused of poisoning people with pesticide drift, using experimental pesticides, creating chemical cocktails of odd pesticide mixes, drenching their soil and crops with pesticides, using more chemicals than an average farm, disguising research as farming, mistreating the land with intensive agricultural practices, engaging in industrial ag, suing for the right to keep spraying near homes and schools, and in general, having a wanton disregard for the health and safety of their neighbors and the environment.

After covering the industry for years — and initially getting little or no response when I called for comments — I was pleased to see that public scrutiny had prompted them to open up, rather than hunker down. So when they invited me to tour their Kauai facilities when I returned from South Korea, I accepted.

In a full-on westside marathon, I visited the Dow and Pioneer facilities, and fields used by Syngenta and BASF. At the end of the day — hot, sweaty and sticky with mango juice — I had a much better idea of what they do out there. There's nothing like actually seeing it with your own eyes to gain a clearer understanding.

Which perhaps explains why Councilman Gary Hooser, the politician who led the anti-GMO movement on Kauai, continues to make such outrageous accusations against the industry. He's never actually visited any of the farms. Well, except for that quick trespass into the Pioneer fields with the French journalist....

My first stop was the glass-enclosed meeting room at Dow, which offers a gorgeous view of the ocean and Niihau. It's the kind of sweeping view you see in upscale places like South Kona or Upcountry Maui, the kind that would appeal to folks with big kala to spend on second homes if agriculture on the westside were to die.

Executives from all the companies were gathered there, and we began by talking about their operations specific to Kauai.

They produce biotech and conventional hybrids, sending seed to plant breeders all around the world. In fact, Pioneer is the world's largest produce of soybean seeds for the organic market. Their seed is also used for research and development on the mainland.

At least half of what the companies grow is not GMO, because when you're making hybrids, one plant will be genetically engineered and the other won't. Their “experimental” work is essentially cross-breeding plant varieties to create such traits as disease and insect resistance.

“When we plant something, we call it an experiment, but it's just evaluating their traits and their effectiveness,” said Peter Wiederoder, who runs the Dow facility.

All the seeds the companies produce can be replanted by farmers. None of the companies have actually produced sterile — aka “terminator technology” — seeds for commercial use. But yield is reduced when hybrids are replanted, which is why farmers typically choose to buy need seeds each year whether they're GE or not. Farmers are not legally prohibited from saving seed.

The companies also have fields elsewhere — Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America — to spread the risk in case weather wipes out their crops in one area, and also to evaluate performance in various growing conditions.

Though I've heard activists claim the companies operate in Hawaii because they're either a) trying to contain the fallout of failed experiments or b) don't care if the Islands are exposed, the reality is pretty innocuous.

The companies like Hawaii because the year-round growing cycles allow them to speed up the natural process of growing out plants with the desired traits. It can take seven years to get a new seed to market on the mainland, compared to half that time in the Islands.

And time is money, both of which matter in the highly competitive world of seed breeding.

“We are trying to optimize plant growth, which means minimize pesticide use,” Peter said.

Sarah Styan, a plant geneticist at Pioneer, agreed. “We want our plants to live. We succeed only if our plants survive.”

In other words, none of the seed companies are spraying plants with max chemicals to see how much pesticide exposure they can withstand before they make. That work is actually done on the mainland “in a very controlled environment,” Peter said. It is not done at the field stage.

However, as part of their quality control measures, they will give Roundup Ready parent seeds an application of that herbicide to ensure it survives.

And despite frequent claims to the contrary, they are not using any experimental pesticides — again, such work is carried out elsewhere, in closed greenhouse facilities — or trying out any weird chemical cocktails.

“If we wanted to do that, we would have to get an experimental use permit because we would be using the pesticide off-label,” Peter explained. (Later, I'll get into how software programs make it nearly impossible for the companies to improperly use pesticides.)

Here on Kauai, it's all about keeping plants alive, because their seeds are incredibly valuable.

The four companies practice IPM — integrated pest management. It's a common modern agricultural practice, defined as “an ecosystem-based strategy that focuses on long-term prevention of pests or their damage through a combination of techniques such as biological control, habitat manipulation, modification of cultural practices, and use of resistant varieties.”

Blaise Boyle, agronomy manager for BASF, likened IPM to an artist's palette, with an array of tools that can be used to achieve certain effects. Their response is governed by the type of pest, time of day, age of the crop, weather and other factors.

They also use a range of cultivation practices, such as planting fields upwind of mature crops, which tend to have bigger insect populations, to keep pests out of new fields, and letting fields lie fallow in August and September to break the insect cycle.

“There are a lot of different practices at play before we ever use pesticides,” Blaise said.

Added Sarah: “It's a biological system, and it's always changing.” 

The companies plant their fields 660 feet apart, or at one-to-two-month intervals, so as to avoid cross-contamination. In a 3,500-acre parcel, for example, only 1,000 to 1,500 acres would be in cultivation at any one time, which is why their fields look like a patchwork quilt. About 90 percent of the land the companies lease is not cultivated.

Much of their time is spent scouting their crops, to see what they need. Based on their findings, such as an insect infestation, they may decide to apply pesticides. And this is where their resistance to detailed, daily disclosure arises. All the companies are fiercely competitive, so revealing their spraying formula is akin to sharing a secret recipe, they said.

They all buy their chemicals from BEI, like other farmers, and they don't get any discounts — not even from their parent companies that produce the pesticides. 

In short, the companies have no economic incentive to overuse pesticides, and because chemicals are costly, they seek to minimize applications.

It's been frequently claimed that Hawaii fields are using more pesticides than elsewhere, but such comparisons are tricky.

There are more pests and diseases in the tropics than on the mainland, and “many other factors and variables,” Blaise said.

In any case, Sarah said, each pesticide label specifies how much can be applied per acre, either by crop or calendar year.

And though activists claim state inspections are slack, the seed companies say otherwise, in part because Hawaii has so few farmers that they're easy to check on.

“Anne Kam carefully audits our pesticide use,” Peter said. “She's here three to four times a year. On the mainland, there are so many farmers you wouldn't see a pesticide person but every five years or so. When Anne receives a call our entire books are open to her — how much we bought, how much we used, our application records. She'll talk to regular workers, too. The punishment is you get your license removed. That's huge.”

In Hawaii, licenses are held by individuals, who can be held personally liable for pesticide misuse. There is no corporate shield to protect them.

Legal restrictions aside, if pesticides are overused the insects will build natural resistance, Blaise said, and they're already rotating the different pesticides they use to keep that from happening.

“We have no real incentives to break the label,” Blaise said.

Next: The big bad sprayer and a look at Pioneer's pesticide container.

Musings: Caterwauling

The coyotes have been coming around lately, circling in close, their spooky chorus of howls, yips and barks rousing me from sleep, waking primal memories of that age-old dynamic of predator and prey.

I'm in New Mexico, where coyotes hunt bunnies, cats and prairie dogs, and crows clean up the road kill.

On Kauai, the natural order is all screwed up. Endangered native birds are hunted by introduced cats, rats and barn owls. Wild cats and chickens are killed by cars, then ground into the pavement or left to bloat alongside the road. And the Kauai Humane Society staff routinely euthanizes an unending stream of kittens — offspring of the estimated 15,000 to 20,000 wild felines that roam its forests and shores.

It's an ugly state of affairs that some folks would rather not face. So they've been caterwauling about the agency's euthanasia policies, blaming an “insensitive, inefficient” director and morally challenged staff rather than the real culprits: an ignorant populace, a feral cat population that has spiraled out of control and their own romantic notion that even a crappy life is better than death.

On Wednesday, the County Council will decide whether it wants to wade into that conflict when it considers a resolution to spend $150,000 on an audit of KHS.

It's disappointing, because that money could be much better used for spay-neuter and other animal welfare programs. Plus it shows the Council is catering to fanatics who are trying to impose a no-kill philosophy on what is now appropriately an open-door facility.

Council Chair Mel Rapozo, who introduced the resolution, might think an audit will get the crazies off his back. It won't. The no-kill extremists attacking KHS and director Penny Cistaro won't be happy until they control the shelter and burn Penny at the stake for the murder — sob —of two Salt Pond kittens.

Over the past few months, the local newspaper has published a spate of articles and letters from disgruntled employees and residents who have made a number of outrageous allegations against Penny and KHS. 

Most recently, it was Christopher Schaefer — who last surfaced to fight smart meters — claiming Penny actually prefers to kill animals rather than employ other, less costly measures.

Like, say, cast a magical spell that gives them all forever homes in paradise.

Let's look at the facts.

About 80 percent of the animals that come into KHS are picked up as strays. About 74 percent of the dogs are returned to their owners or placed in new homes.

Some 86 percent of the animals euthanized by KHS are either unsocialized feral cats or unweaned kittens.

Does that sound to you like an animal hater's murderous reign? 

The no-kill proponents, though trying to claim the moral high ground, are hiding their own dirty little secret, which is this: No-kill facilities can exist only because open-door facilities conduct euthanasia. No-kill facilities cherry-pick animals, accepting only those likely to be adopted. The rest are turned away. 

As for feral cats, their “solution” is to spay-neuter the ones they can catch and pretend the rest don't exist. Those that are fixed are released into poorly managed colonies — some of them near native bird nesting grounds — where they are given food, but otherwise left to fend for themselves against cat fights, disease and cars.

If the Council wants to get involved, it should step up and start dealing with the feral cat issue. After all, the county funded the work of the Kauai Feral Cat Task Force, which called on the Council to:

Pass a comprehensive animal control ordinance that sets a goal of zero feral, abandoned and stray cats on the island by the year 2025.

Uh, so what are you guys waiting for? 2024?

Still, if the Council is keen to conduct an independent audit, how about taking on the Planning and Building departments?

I mean, it's not like they've actually reformed or anything since the Abuse Chronicles outlined all their misdeeds two years ago. The TVR/B&B/homestay issue is still a mess at Planning, and Building is still giving out those bogus “unsubstantial improvement” permits that allow folks to expand ground floor structures in the flood zone.

Might be something worth looking into there. If you dare.