May 11th, 2015 - Video by Kami Carter of county workers spraying RoundUp in a pedestrian friendly residential neighborhood of Kamuela/Waimea, Hawai'i Island.

It's time for Hawai'i County to stop all spraying of Neonicotinoids and RoundUp/glyphosate, in our parks, on our roadways and streams. There is ample evidence to heed the precautionary principle for the protection of Hawai'i residents, visitors, property, and wildlife, now.

Glyphosate:

The International Agency for Research on Cancer, the specialised cancer agency of the World Health Organization, asked a group of experts to spend a year examining the data from peer-reviewed studies about glyphosate. The research found that the herbicide, along with two other insecticides, was classified as “probably carcinogenic to humans” — a description used when there is limited evidence of cancer-causing effects on humans, yet sufficient evidence of it in animals.

Many countries and several U.S. towns & cities have banned or stopped spraying glyphosate or are planning to - with many more to follow. As recently as 5-11-15, members of the Bermuda farming community supported the Government’s decision to ban the importation of the weed spray Roundup amid fears that it can cause cancer in humans.

Link: http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20150511/NEWS/150519966

Neonicotinoids:

May 6, 2015 - The City of Boulder, Colorado yesterday became the most recent locality in the U.S. to restrict the use of bee-toxic neonicotinoid (neonic) pesticides on city property.

Neonicotinoids have been widely cited in the demise of both managed and wild bee and pollinator populations. Acting as potent neurotoxins, studies have found the insecticides have the ability to disrupt the reproduction, navigation, and foraging of bees exposed even to infinitesimal concentrations.

Link: http://www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=15577



There are many non toxic and less expensive alternatives to weed control and we, the residents of, and visitors to Hawai`i County, ask that you make this necessary change.

We ask that the County stop all use of glyphosate and neonicotinoids immediately and permanently.

Mahalo to the Hawai`i County Council for protecting us sooner, rather than later.