Posted on: Thursday, July 24, 2003
Group sues over access to modified crop data
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
An environmental watchdog organization has gone to court in hopes of forcing the state Department of Agriculture to allow inspection of its files on two companies given permission to grow genetically engineered crops in Hawai'i.
A lawsuit, filed yesterday for the Washington, D.C.,-based Center for Food Safety by Isaac Moriwake of the Earthjustice office in Honolulu, says a request was submitted May 23 to agriculture officials to review the files on permits issued to the Hawaii Agricultural Research Center and Monsanto.
The lawsuit says the request was rejected because agriculture officials believe making the files available for inspection would result in the "frustration of a legitimate government function" and result in the disclosure of "confidential business information."
The department's refusal to allow viewing of the files is a violation of the state's open records law, according to the lawsuit.
Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Janelle Saneishi said the attorney general's office was reviewing the lawsuit and that agriculture officials would not comment on it.
Moriwake said that corn and sugar cane are being grown in Hawai'i using engineered genes, one of which was taken from a human. He said he did not know where the crops are being grown.
The lawsuit seeks a declaratory ruling from the court that the open records law requires disclosure of the records in question.
Moriwake said that he hopes a court hearing can be scheduled on the matter within the next two months.
In April, the Environmental Protection Agency fined Pioneer Hi-Bred, a division of DuPont, $72,000 for failing to immediately report a test that showed genetically modified corn pollen had possibly contaminated other plants at the company's Waimea Research Station on Kaua'i.
Last year, Pioneer was slapped with a $9,900 fine after EPA agents discovered that the company had broken environmental rules in planting its experimental corn.
