You notice this is at least 3 instances of recent of improper pesticide handling by companies experimenting on Kauai? What's up with that?

http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080929/BR...

Monday, September 29, 2008
"EPA fines tobacco company for violations on Kauai"
Associated Press

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined Vector Tobacco Inc. just over $65,000 for allegedly misusing six pesticides and failing to comply with federal pesticide worker safety laws.

The EPA says the violations occurred in 2005 and 2006 at the company's agricultural research facility on Kaua'i.

The government says on 93 occasions, Vector Tobacco failed to follow label directions intended to protect workers from exposure to pesticides. That violated the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act.

The EPA says the state Department of Agriculture discovered the violations during inspections performed in March and June 2006. Worker complaints triggered the initial investigation.

Vector Tobacco has since shut down the facility in Kekaha."

http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/stories/2008/09/29/daily2.html

Monday, September 29, 2008
"EPA fines tobacco company $65K for violations at Kauai facility" Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has fined a North Carolina company for violations at a Kauai facility.

Vector Tobacco, a subsidiary of Vector Tobacco Group of Durham, N.C., was fined $65,040 for allegedly misusing pesticides during application at its agricultural research facility in Kekaha on Kauai in 2005 and 2006, according to the EPA. On 93 occasions, the company failed to follow label directions intended to protect workers from exposure to pesticides.

“Employers of agricultural workers must ensure their employees are provided with information and protections that minimize the risk of potential exposure to pesticides,” said Katherine Taylor, associate director of the EPA’s Communities and Ecosystems Division for the Pacific Southwest region, in a statement. “Failure to provide these necessary safeguards is considered a serious violation.”

The EPA said that during the pesticide applications in 2005 and 2006, Vector Tobacco failed to give its workers and pesticide handlers the required protective equipment, pesticide information, decontamination supplies, safety training and notification that pesticides had been applied.

The company also failed to prevent workers from entering areas where pesticides had recently been applied and then denied them prompt transportation to a medical facility after the workers reported adverse health effects due to the pesticide exposure, the EPA said.

The Hawaii Department of Agriculture discovered the violations during inspections in 2006 and began an investigation. The EPA said Vector Tobacco has shut down the Kekaha facility since the inspections."