"The Kaua‘i Cocktail"

"Highly toxic pesticides are being applied to GMO test fields on Kaua‘i at a much higher rate than on most US farms, an analysis of new data reveals"

"WAIMEA, HAWAI‘I – The Hawaiian island of Kaua‘i has become Ground Zero in the intense domestic political battle over genetically modified crops. But the fight isn’t just about the merits or downsides of GMO technology. It’s about regular old pesticides.

The four transnational agribusinesses that are experimenting with genetically engineered crops on Kaua‘i have transformed part of the island into one of the most toxic chemical environments in all of American agriculture.

For the better part of two decades, Syngenta, BASF Plant Science, DuPont Pioneer and Dow AgroSciences have been drenching their test fields near Waimea, a small town on the southwest coast of Kaua‘i, with some of the most dangerous synthetic pesticides in use in agriculture today, at an intensity that far surpasses the norm at most other American farms, an analysis of government pesticide databases shows."

Paul Koberstein reports for the Cascadia Times June 16, 2014.