No organic conflict with dengue control
I see my picture on the front page of Tuesday’s WHT, at the head of an Associated Press article which implies that there is some conflict between Hawaii’s dengue control strategy and organic farmers. However good a story that makes, it’s not true. Organic farmers have been proactive and involved since the outbreak was identified. As soon as I learned of nearby cases, I was on the phone to the Department of Health, asking their advice. They advised me not to spray; they had already fogged the highest-risk areas near the neighbor’s house, and were not recommending widespread spraying. That’s reserved for hot-zone parks and schools where large numbers of people gather. We did not refuse to spray, nor would we.
It is true that if we used the DOH’s default product, it would end our organic certification, because that product is semi-synthetic. But there’s no particular safety concern. I’m perfectly comfortable with my dish detergent, but under the organic rules I can’t use it to wash away insects on the farm; I have to use soap. Likewise, I’m comfortable with the DOH’s fogger – the active ingredients are widely used in over-the-counter mosquito repellents and lice shampoos, and are chemically based on chrysanthemum flowers and one of the flavor components in sassafras and black pepper. They’re cheaper and easier to use, but because they’re semi-synthetic, they can’t be used in an organic field; instead, we have EPA-approved insecticides made from the plant extracts more directly, along with effective traps and larvicides. Organic farmers in the hot zone who own the needed fogging equipment are already fogging for mosquito control. The rest of us would need help if fogging were indicated, help which I would hope the DOH could provide.
We wear head nets here to avoid exposure to mosquitoes, because we find it’s easier and more certain than applying and removing repellents. That’s just a personal choice; many organic farmers use the DEET repellents. It makes a nice picture, and an important point: One way or the other, we all need to do our part to avoid being bitten, and to stop this outbreak.
Steve Mann
Captain Cook
‘Level the playing field’ reeks on no good
The phrase “level the playing field” was used when SB2535 was written to allow geothermal to do whatever it wants all over the state, with no public recourse, as if Act 97 wasn’t enough for them!
Although this industry is not currently statewide, to exert the control they desire, they need the state to completely overwhelm county geothermal regulations, as well as home rule. This bill is designed to remove any hard won county protections which have been fought for ever since the blow out of 1991. What this boils down to is the foreign owners of this corporation do not wish to bother with trifling details such as persons injured by their operations when their system fails to function properly, or for that matter, when it does operate properly. That happens during an emergency shutdown and although they claim the system automatically remediates 94 percent of the hydrogen sulfide released in the cloud, that is up for debate.
Although they may monitor metal gases that accompany the steam cloud carrying the H2S, they do not remediate them, which is another problem that does not concern their foreign masters. A hair tissue mineral analysis would be recommended to discover what elements many be resident in your system, especially the ones that shouldn’t be there, such as cadmium, mercury, arsenic, aluminum and lead. Does the State mollycoddle any other industry to the degree it does geothermal?
Dave Kisor
Pahoa