HONOLULU – Gov. Linda Lingle has announced that U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Edward Schafer approved her June 20 request for a disaster designation for Hawai'i County due to losses from volcanic emissions that have been ongoing since March 12.

The disaster declaration makes farm operators in Hawai'i County eligible to be considered for low-interest loans from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), according to a news release from Lingle's office. The FSA will consider each application on its own merit by taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability. Hawai'i County was designated as a primary natural disaster area, according to the news release.

Based on the loss assessment report from state and county agencies along with additional information submitted by the FSA, the USDA determined that there were sufficient production losses to warrant a secretarial disaster designation.

Vog damage has occurred to agriculture, especially protea and other flower crops in the areas of Oceanview Estate, Wood Valley, Pahala and Ka'u. Damage has also been reported in some coffee and macadamia nut fields.

Livestock operations have experienced some eye irritation in cattle. However, more significant damage is being observed in the accelerated deterioration of galvanized fencing, gates, pipelines and other infrastructure.

"Our interagency task force is also continuing environmental health risk analysis and assessment of vog, including strategies to mitigate the effects," Lingle said.

For more information, contact: Hawai'i County Farm Service Agency, 154 Waianuenue Ave., Room 322 Hilo, HI 96720-2452. Phone: (808) 933-8381 ext. 2. Web site: http://www.fsa.usda.gov