“This guy is a very, very bad steward. [It’s] totally uncalled for for him to keep the premises that way. He’s just a bad steward of the ʻāina,” said Agribusiness Development Corporation board member Jimmy Gomes at its March 16 meeting.
That day, the board voted to renew its license agreement with K&L Produce, LLC, run by Kevin Lovan and his family, for six months. ADC property manager Lyle Roe said he believed that was ample time for the farmers to properly vacate the 136.6 acres they had been occupying since before the ADC bought the land from Dole Food Company as part of a 434-acre purchase.
It wasn’t until 2019 that the ADC issued K&L a three-year license, which had an effective date of March 15, 2019.
“Prior to the issuance of the license, ADC staff noticed numerous loose dogs, abandoned vehicles, and unpermitted structures throughout the property. However, the overall condition of the premises was fair and a majority of the subject area was in production,” a staff report states.
According to an ADC staff report, K&L grows “banana, eggplant, okra, cucumber, bitter melon, pumpkin, cherry tomatoes, long beans, squash, wing beans, and sundry other crops.”
K&L’s three-year license was scheduled to expire on March 15. But last September, the ADC informed K&L that the agency did not have a current certificate of insurance for the company, which is required by the license. Staff inspected the property a month later and found that it was generally unkempt and had no soil conservation plan. In addition to pesticide containers strewn about, there were unapproved structures (including toilets plumbed directly into the ground), animals and unpermitted livestock, and abandoned vehicles. Trash and debris had been pushed into drainage ditches.
A notice of violation and demand for remediation the ADC issued to K&L on October 25 gave the farm 30 days to remediate. An inspection was planned for November 29, but on November 10, the ADC board of directors conditionally referred the license to the state Department of the Attorney General for possible legal action, in case the inspection revealed outstanding problems with the property.
At the November meeting, Kevin Lovan’s daughter Linda said that they had liability insurance with Dole, but had not yet added the ADC.
“The biggest concern we had was if you don’t have the liability insurance and when staff does an inspection and there were pesticide containers around the property, a toilet that was plugged straight into the ground, it’s a liability on ADC’s part. So rather than wait till the license expires and just not renew it, better to take action right now and have them clean up the property,” said ADC executive director James Nakatani, according to the meeting minutes.
K&L eventually procured the liability insurance and the November inspection found that some vehicles had been removed. However, “excessive rubbish was still strewn about the premises,” and some abandoned vehicles, pesticide containers, and an unapproved toilet remained. And there was still no finalized soil conservation plan, according to a staff report.
The state Department of Agriculture’s pesticide branch also conducted its own inspection on November 29. Based on what it found, it issued K&L a warning notice on January 11 for violations of the Hawai`i Pesticide Law and federal worker protection standards.
Among other potential violations, the DOA inspector documented that Lovan had mixed three different pesticides together with water and applied the mixture to 2.5 acres of eggplant, despite the fact that one of those pesticides did not have any directions for applications at farms or an Agricultural Use Requirements label.
On February 3, the Department of the Attorney General issued K&L a notice of default and demand for remediation that called for remediation to be complete by March 9, but it was not successfully delivered. Staff had to hand-deliver it on March 10.
“Base yard structures, clothes drying on clothes lines, electric generators, and full kitchen suggest habitation is occurring on the premises,” the notice states.
Days earlier, K&L had asked the ADC to renew its license for an additional year to allow it time to vacate.
On March 16, ADC staff recommended giving the company up to six months to leave.
“Both staff and licensee believe it is appropriate for the licensee to vacate. However, in light of what appear to be sublicensed tenants on the premises, staff believes it is appropriate to renew the license for a term not to exceed six months from the date of the earlier expiration of the license,” a staff report states.
While the ADC is now covered by K&L’s liability insurance, board member Lloyd Haraguchi still asked what the farm’s financial situation was, given the potential for environmental contamination on the property.
“At the end of the day, we will be responsible,” Haraguchi said.
ADC’s Roe, who said he didn’t know anything about the farm’ finances, said he’ll be watching the move closely to ensure that K&L doesn’t bury any of its waste.
“I’ll be looking for pits,” he said.
With the end of K&L’s license, the ADC will be losing out on $27,320 a year in rent.
— Teresa Dawson
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