Have people exposed to agricultural chemicals in Hawai`i suffered as a result? No study purporting to be definitive has been done. Nor is there any real likelihood that it ever will be. In 1979 and 1980, researchers at the University … Continued
Atrazine, one of the most widely used broadleaf herbicides in the United States, began showing up in Hawai`i water in 1983. It had been used by the sugar industry since 1961 and accounted for up to 50 percent of total … Continued
Supreme Court Throws Boating Dispute Back to Kaua`i Planning Commission The Hawai`i Supreme Court has issued its ruling on the matter of whether operators of tour boats along Kaua`i’s Na Pali coast need to obtain a Special Management Area permit … Continued
Name: Carbon Tetrachloride* Use: Industrial Solvent Where found: Del Monte Navy well (Kunia) Wahiawa; Haleiwa; Wheeler; Camp Stover; Waikele (Navy Well) Health effects: Probable carcinogen (respiratory cancer, liver tumors, leukemia.) Name: DBCP (1,2-Dibromo-3-chloropropane) Use: Soil Fumigant Where found: Hawai’i Country … Continued
In September 1982, dibromochloropropane was found in Mililani well I at 97 nanograms per liter. (A nanogram is a billionth of a gram.) The well had been tested as a result of a settlement agreement between the Environmental Protection Agency, … Continued
In September 1983, the residents of Mililani Town, in central O`ahu, were reeling from the news that their drinking water was a chemical cocktail whose ingredients, while dilute, might still bring on a wide range of frightening health problems. In … Continued
The state Department of Health has the legal responsibility to ensure that the water residents of the state drink is pure and healthy. To this end, it establishes maximum contaminant levels (most of which match federal MCLs) and monitors test … Continued
In 1976, Frederick Kaneshiro of Wahiawa wrote Russell Train, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. Kaneshiro said he was concerned about reports that pesticides and herbicides, including powdered DDT, had been buried at the Animal Quarantine Station in Halawa Valley. … Continued
D-Day arrived March 1 at the Olinda Endangered Species Propagation Facility. For nearly 10 years, Olinda has been home to the state’s captive flock of `alala, the perilously endangered Hawaiian crow (Corvus hawaiiensis). The state’s captive flock of nene, the … Continued
At the end of February, biologists studying the `alala in the wild pegged their number at 14. Those include two pairs (only one of which has been known to produce fertile eggs) and one wild-reared juvenile. Both pairs are thought … Continued