Big Island
irradiation plant
to reach vote
An opposing petition
By Rod Thompson
could block it but is
expected to be denied
Star-BulletinHILO - Farmers supporting an irradiation facility that would treat their produce for shipment to the mainland drove a procession of tractors, produce trucks, and other farm vehicles past the Hawaii County building this morning in support of the project.
The County Council was to consider an initiative petition today, which would block the facility.
Since the Council already voted last year in favor of an irradiation plant, it is expected to vote against the ordinance requested by the petition, sending the matter to a vote by the general public in November.
In one of few testimonies opposing an irradiation facility, papaya grower Michael Durkin today said papaya growers will not use the facility.
"We don't want it," he said. "The papaya growers will not bring fruit to this plant. I'm against it, not because I don't think it's safe - I think it can be done safely - but it's dividing the community.
"The biggest problem with irradiation," Durkin said, "is the negative reaction to it, not the danger."
Hawaii County Fire Capt. Myron Yoshioka, head of the department's hazardous response team, said visits to mainland facilities changed his mind about irradiators.
He said firefighters in the communities he visited are comfortable with the facilities - they do not consider them to be a high hazard.
One community had required a police escort whenever radioactive materials were transported, Yoshioka said. But they soon stopped that because they found it was unnecessary, he said. Also, new homes are being built quite close to the facility, he said.
Irradiation advocates have said the plant is needed to sterilize fruit flies in tropical fruit, which cannot otherwise be shipped to the mainland.
Parents Against Irradiation, headed by physician Mark Cohen and his wife Naomi, gathered more than 8,000 signatures to start the initiative process, which would remove one exemption from the county's ban on nuclear materials - the exemption which allows nuclear materials in commercial facilities.
The group says the facility could never be safe with the Big Island's many natural hazards, a claim disputed by irradiation advocates.
Leading the coalition for the irradiator is a new group, Friends of Agriculture-Hawaii, chaired by orchid grower Richard Nelson.
"This legislation to amend the county code is a stake in the heart of local agriculture," Nelson said.
"It would ban the use of cobalt- 60 radioisotopes for our farmers to sterilize fruit flies while preserving radiation sources for doctors and others. That's discriminatory and hypocritical," Nelson said.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission already oversees licenses for radioactive materials at five Big Island sites, he said. They are Hilo Hospital, North Hawaii Hospital, and three local contractors.
Statewide, 64 licenses for the use of radioactive materials are in effect, he said.
Hawaii farmers are already familiar with the effectiveness of irradiation, shipping 250,000 pounds of papaya, lychee, rambutan and other fruits to Chicago for irradiation since 1995.
Although effective, the flights to Chicago are costly.
A private New Jersey company, Isomedix, is irradiating the fruit near Chicago and plans to build a Big Island facility, possibly near the Hilo airport.
The County Council last year voted $2 million for the project, but construction will be privately funded. The county money may go for market development.
Since the formation of Friends of Agriculture-Hawaii was announced two weeks ago, 31 organizations have endorsed it, including business groups and labor unions.
