If you suspect pesticides are drifting onto your garden or home, or are affecting your children’s playground or school, call the state Department of Agriculture pesticide branch, which is responsible for enforcing EPA pesticide regulations.
Of course, in all cases of medical emergency, call 911. The responding Fire Department officers will notify the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Health, or other authorities if they suspect pesticide poisoning has occurred.
The DOA numbers to call are:
O`ahu: 973-9401
Kaua`i: 274-3069
Maui County: 873-3557
Hawai`i: 974-4143 (Hilo); 323-4565 (Kona)
Volume 11, Number 5 November 2000
Cara
Aloha,
I’m writing in response to an archived article about who to call when exposed to pesticide drift. My understanding is that exposure to pesticide drift occurs when pesticides are blown beyond their intended target during application, causing people and property outside the intended area to be exposed. However, I’m wondering who families should contact when they are persistently exposed to pesticide contaminated dirt, dust and debris emitted and blown from contaminated project sites? These exposures are similar to “pesticide drift,” but exposures do not occur during application. Instead, exposures occur when neighborhood soils contaminated with unsafe levels of extremely hazardous and banned pesticides are persistently disturbed, releasing these contaminants into the air where they are blown into and around families homes and neighborhoods for years.
More housing redevelopment and persistent soil disturbing activities are occurring in densely populated and contaminated neighborhoods on the windward coast of Oahu. Neighborhood soils are contaminated with unsafe levels of organochlorine pesticides and more than 8 years of persistent soil disturbing activities continues to release these contaminants into the environment where they are blown by strong trade winds into and around families’ homes and neighborhoods.
Is there anything that can be done to help these families? Hawaii Dept of Health is unable or unwilling to protect the health and safety of these families. The families exposed are not informed about the hazardous soil contamination or the more than 50 hazardous waste sites in their neighborhoods where the housing redevelopment and persistent soil disturbing activities has and continues to occur. Hundreds of resident families have reported they, their children and/or pets have developed serious and potentially related health effects or worse.
We’ve started a petition asking EPA, HDOH, US and Hawaii Congressional Delegates to protect the health and safety of these families, but do not know what else we can do. Here’s a link to the petition: https://www.change.org/p/epa-hdoh-us-congress-please-protect-health-and-safety-of-military-children-and-families-on-us-soil?recruiter=3243059&utm_source=petitions_show_components_action_panel_wrapper&utm_medium=copylink If you have any suggestions, ideas or recommendations, please advise.