The students and teacher who experienced dizziness and headaches were taken to Kaua'i Veterans Memorial Hospital to be checked as a precautionary measure, while others were sent home, according to a news release from Kaua'i County.

All 10 students and the teacher were later released.

Firefighters from the Waimea station, KFD's Hazmat team, and police officers responded to a 9:36 a.m. call regarding a noxious odor.

Officials with the state Department of Health and Syngenta also responded.

At about 11:40 a.m., several piles of weeds in a field west of the school were discovered and officials believe it could be the source of the odor, according to the release.

At a meeting held at the school at about noon, officials asked Syngenta representatives to take the piles of weeds away and dispose of them.

An official from the state Department of Agriculture is scheduled to fly from the Big Island to Kaua'i tomorrow to meet with Syngenta officials, according to the release.

According to a statement posted on the Web site of the Senate Majority leader, the Waimea incident is not isolated. Similar problems with pesticides near schools prompted Kaua'i Sen. Gary Hooser to introduce a bill that establishes three different pesticide-free buffer zones around schools.

Senate Bill 3170 prohibits the backpack application of pesticides within a 1500-foot radius of elementary school property. Aerial pesticides must not come within a half-mile radius, and all pesticides applied within a five-mile radius of any educational facility must be reported to the Department of Education so that parents are ensured of notification, according to the release

"A pesticide is poison. It is designed to kill. No child should be