Local residents sue DuPont for GMO pesticide 'dust' blowing on homes, children

Wednesday, December 21, 2011 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer
Tags: DuPont, GMOs, pesticides

(NaturalNews) For over ten years, Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc., an Iowa-based genetically-modified (GM) seed company owned by DuPont, has been carelessly allowing GM crop pesticide dust to blow onto homes, cars, streets, yards, and children living in residential areas of Kauai, Hawaii. This is according to a new lawsuit.

The Associated Press reports that 150 local residents of Waimea (on Kauai), are suing Pioneer for using undisclosed and potentially deadly pesticides on GMO crops in open-air tests. The plaintiffs claim the company has routinely failed to control the spread of these contaminants as is required by state and county law, as well as identify them publicly.

Pioneer has several GM crop test fields in the Waimea area that are located very close to residential neighborhoods. Especially on windy days, residue from pesticide sprays travels from the fields into nearby neighborhoods, according to local residents, and contaminates practically everything. And despite having filed a petition with Pioneer back in 2000 to have the situation remedied, Pioneer has allegedly done nothing over all these years to curb the uncontrolled spread of pesticide poisons.

"[T]he influx of dust and chemicals from Pioneer's fields has continued while Waimea residents fight a daily battle to keep their homes and property free of dust and chemicals. They continue to suffer on a daily basis," says the lawsuit. It goes on to state that "pesticides and fugitive dust from Pioneer's GMO Test Fields are recognized pollutants that present known and unknown risks to human health and the environment associated with acute, sub-chronic, and chronic exposure."

After filing its initial petition back in 2000, Pioneer responded by promising to clean up the problem and do what it could to prevent the spread of these airborne toxins. But more than ten years later, the problem still persists, according to the plaintiffs, which is why they have no choice but to pursue remedies through the legal system.

Worse, Pioneer has refused to disclose which pesticides it is even using in the test trials, so there is no way to know exactly what is being sprayed, and what dangers they pose. Forcing Pioneer to disclose the identities of these pesticides is the primary goal of the lawsuit, which could later develop further into a case concerning the health effects of exposure to them.

Sources for this article include:

http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/20111216_...