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. At the least, Kaneshiro said, someone should have filed an environmental impact statement before using the quarantine station grounds for pesticide burials.
Train forwarded the letter to Governor George Ariyoshi, who responded to Kaneshiro as follows:
“In early 1975, certain non-residual herbicides and pesticides were buried on the AQS grounds. The chemicals in question were in various stages of decomposition and were becoming a hazard to the health and safety of staff personnel working in the storage area. As you know, at that time, there were no prescribed procedures for the disposal of pesticides and herbicides…
“The decision to deep bury the non-persistent, degradable chemicals on the AQS grounds was considered an appropriate disposal method. The actual disposal was supervised by our Department of Agriculture’s pesticides control personnel. No restricted chemicals, including DDT, were disposed of in this manner. (We still have a large amount of DDT powder for which we must find some adequate means of disposal.)”
Ariyoshi’s letter was based on a memorandum from Board of Agriculture Chairman John Farias, Jr., dated August 2, 1976. “In early 1975,” Farias wrote, “the Weed-Pesticides Branch of Plant Industry Division approved a request made by the AQS to dispose of certain old and degradable pesticides by burying. Subsequently, the following non-persistent pesticides were buried in an 8-foot deep trench in an isolated area on the mauka end of the AQS property: malathion, rotenone, captan, diuron, dalapon, atrazine, sulphur, naled, and diazinon.” The pesticides “were in various stages of decomposition and most of the containers were corroded with contents leaking or spilling,” Farias added. “Workers entering the storage area for other supplies and materials were constantly exposed to these pesticides.”
Volume 6, Number 11 May 1996
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