The County Council on Wednesday advanced on first reading a bill banning the use of glyphosate-based herbicides in county parks.
Kona Councilwoman Rebecca Villegas, sponsor of Bill 81, called the measure an important first step in protecting people and the environment from toxic chemicals. She’s hoping the effort can be expanded in the future to also include roadsides and other county facilities.
“This is a step in the right direction so this change won’t be as scary,” Villegas said. “It’s to ensure that our children remain healthy and safe at our parks and open common spaces.”
The measure is intended to reduce the use of the broad-spectrum systemic pesticide by county workers and contractors at county Parks and Recreation facilities. Exempt from the ban would be the Hilo Municipal Golf Course, Hilo Drag Strip and all county cemeteries.
It is the second attempt by Villegas to stop county use of pesticides. In 2019, the County Council passed a broader measure banning the use of Roundup and 29 other herbicides in areas owned or maintained by the county. Then-Mayor Harry Kim vetoed the measure, and the County Council was unsuccessful in garnering a super majority to override that veto.
Villegas has been working with the administration and garnered support from Parks and Recreation Director Maurice Messina and others, who point out the county has already started weaning itself off the chemical at its parks.
Kohala Councilman Tim Richards, the sole no vote, called the measure “an anti-ag bill.”
“I fully support the reduction of chemicals in our society,” Richards said. “The misnomer that something that qualifies for organic gardening is not toxic is far from the truth. … This type of legislation is used as a springboard for justifying other types of legislation in other circumstances.”
The county currently uses glyphosate-based pesticides to control vegetation in public parks, fields, bikeways, sidewalks, trails, drainageways and waterways, as well as along fence lines and roads. It is the most widely used herbicide in the U.S., commonly sold under the brand name Roundup.
Cory Harden, of the Hawaii Island chapter of the Sierra Club, said glyphosate use has been linked to drops in soil fertility and the collapse of microbe ecosystems essential to healthy soil.
“Bill 91 will save countless children and adults from exposure to hazardous substances, increase the health of our soil and everything that grows in that soil, and lead to broader knowledge of environmentally friendly approaches to caring for our land,” Harden said in testimony. “That knowledge can be used by other County agencies, and also by local businesses such as farms and nurseries.”
Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser, chairwoman of the state Department of Agriculture, said her agency’s Pesticide Branch regulates some 200 products licensed for sale in Hawaii with glyphosate as an active ingredient. The herbicide is “an invaluable tool” in combating invasive albizia and other species as well as keeping vegetation off powerlines and roadsides. She said studies have shown the substance idoesn’t prove a risk to humans when used according to label directions, ad it’s not been shown to be a carcinogen.
“In considering this bill, the Department respectfully asks that Councilmembers weigh the known benefits of glyphosate product use against the science-based assessments of risks when deliberating on this matter,” Shimabukuro-Geiser said in testimony.