A coalition of activists including moms, farmers, and public interest groups has filed papers defending Maui County’s recently passed ban on genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
The ballot initiative, which passed with 50.2 percent of the vote, prohibits the growth, testing, or cultivation of GMO crops, also known as GE crops, in Maui County until an environmental and public health study can show that the practice is safe for the community.
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Less than two weeks after the vote, agrochemical companies Monsanto and Dow Chemical—both of which poured big money into the race to defeat the referendum—filed suit against Maui County, claiming the initiative “interferes with and conflicts with long established state and federal laws that support both the safety and lawful cultivation of GMO plants.” The suit sought to have the ban scrapped entirely, and also asked the court to temporarily delay the measure by issuing an injunction.
Ignoring the will of a majority of voters, Maui County agreed to an injunction until March 2015.
“Maui County’s betrayal of its own people by agreeing to delay the moratorium without a whimper of resistance proves it cannot be trusted to properly defend our clients’ interests,” said managing attorney Paul Achitoff of Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest law firm that has defended similar GMO crop and pesticides ordinances passed by Kaua’i and Hawai’i counties last year. “The people of Maui, Moloka’i, and Lana’i have spoken, in the face of enormous industry pressure: They want the spraying and growing to stop until the impacts are properly studied. Since Maui County won’t defend the law, we’ll have to do its job and make the arguments in court.”
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