Send Testimony by Thursday 10/12: STOP Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes on Kaua‘i
Send Testimony by Thursday 10/12: STOP Bacteria-Infected Mosquitoes on Kaua‘i
Speak up to protect the health of the people, native birds, and the ‘āina
The State of Hawai‘i and its multi-agency partnership Birds, Not Mosquitoes (BNM) are targeting all islands with their corporate experiments to release millions of bacteria-infected mosquitoes in our natural environment. Despite our active case in court challenging this plan, releases have already begun in East Maui. Now the island of Kaua‘i is being threatened with this potentially catastrophic biopesticide.
We have an opportunity to speak out against these lab-altered mosquitoes being let loose on the next island as this biotech agenda continues to be railroaded through by the same agency benefiting from the funding. Please take the time to send in testimony for the upcoming Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) meeting this Friday where the approval of the mosquito release project for Kaua‘i will be up for vote.
The BLNR meeting on Friday, October 13th, 2023 at 9:15am will include a vote to approve the Final Environmental Assessment (FEA) for Kaua‘i:
The deadline to send in written testimony is this Thursday, October 12th at 9:15am.
Email your testimony to blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov
Sample Testimony:
I’m opposed to the BLNR 10/13/23 agenda item C1. This bacteria-infected mosquito release project is a dangerous experiment on our islands. Concerns about this plan have not been adequately addressed. Southern house mosquitoes transmit human diseases, and pathogen screenings are not being disclosed. Female mosquitoes that bite, breed, and spread disease will be released. This project has the potential to cause the extinction of the native birds it is meant to protect. Releases on Kaua‘i cannot be allowed to move forward while the need for further study of the serious risks of these mosquitoes is still being litigated in court. I do not accept the Finding of No Significant Impact for the “Use of Wolbachia-based Incompatible Insect Technique for the Suppression of Nonnative Southern House Mosquito Populations on Kauaʻi.” I demand an Environmental Impact Statement.
We can also provide video testimony by emailing a request for the Zoom link to blnr.testimony@hawaii.gov (include your name and the agenda item C1). If you’re on Oahu, you can attend the meeting live and provide in-person testimony at 1151 Punchbowl St. Room 132 (Kalanimoku Building), Honolulu.
The plan for Kaua‘i is to release mosquitoes infected with Wolbachia bacteria on 59,204 acres of natural forest and reserve areas. The stated intention is to control mosquitoes that transmit avian malaria to endangered native forest birds. The exact number of mosquitoes to be released has not been made clear by the agencies involved. We do know that the total acreage of the project area is almost 17% of the entire island, and this would be the second largest Wolbachia mosquito release of any kind globally to date (Maui would be the largest). There is no documented use of southern house mosquitoes for Wolbachia stand-alone field release at this point, and this project would be an irreversible experiment on the island’s fragile ecosystems.
The FEA for Kaua‘i continues to mislead the people about multiple issues, including the introduction of foreign bacteria to the islands, the human diseases that southern house mosquitoes transmit, and the accidental release of female mosquitoes that bite, breed, and spread disease. It also fails to document biosecurity protocols for the imported mosquitoes, and it does not address the lack of transparency about pathogen screenings. We don’t even know what diseases these mosquitoes may or may not be screened for, and our FOIA request to the EPA for that information resulted in it being withheld as confidential.
The FEA’s Cultural Impact Assessment interview transcripts reveal a startling admission:
No mitigation plan has been presented for the unintended consequences of this project. The FEA also fails to address any of tropical disease and vector expert Dr. Lorrin Pang’s specific concerns about the risks of these mosquito releases:
Dr. Pang’s background information, concerns, and alternatives are detailed in our TRO and preliminary injunction court filing (page 372-387). Pang has decades of experience working in the field of tropical disease globally. He has authored close to eighty peer-reviewed articles, over forty of which are focused on mosquito-borne illness. Where are the studies addressing the information he has brought to these agencies’ attention? Horizontal transmission, math models, wind drift of mosquitoes, superinfection, increased pathogen infection and disease-spreading capability, experimentation – these mechanisms all interact with each other and need to be studied both separately and in combination. Further, why have his alternative approaches for mitigating avian malaria not been considered?
On the topic of avian malaria, we come to find out from the Kaua‘i FEA that there is no intention by Birds, Not Mosquitoes of taking responsibility for the outcome of this mosquito release plan on the birds that are supposed to be the entire focus of this project:
This is outrageous. If monitoring the response of endangered birds to the release of bacteria-infected mosquitoes is out of the scope of the proposed action, there’s clearly no intention of monitoring the response of people who may be impacted. Please make your voice heard and testify against these mosquito releases on Kaua‘i. We need to work together to stop this dangerous agenda before it continues expanding to all islands and beyond.
To learn more about big money interests and biotech industry experimentation on the islands, watch my update with Michelle Melendez of Stand Together Hawaii:
Hawai‘i Unites has taken the state to court to seek a ruling to require further study and to halt the release of these mosquitoes on Maui. We are setting a precedent for the people’s voice in the decision-making process. Your tax-deductible donation to our organization will help us continue to move our legal case forward.
Mahalo,
Tina Lia
Founder
Hawai‘i Unites
HawaiiUnites.org
Hawai‘i Unites is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of our environment and natural resources.
