(Reuters) — Biotech companies have won a court victory that blocks a law passed last year limiting the use of genetically modified crops and pesticides on the Hawaiian island of Kauai.
Judge Barry Kurren of the U.S. District Court in Hawaii ruled that the law passed in November by local leaders was invalid because it was pre-empted by Hawaii state law.
The Kauai law required large agricultural companies to disclose pesticide use and GM crop plantings while establishing buffer zones around schools, homes and hospitals to protect people from exposure to pesticides used on the crops.
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The measure had broad support on the island and the U.S. mainland from organizations and individuals who say heavy pesticide use by the chemical companies is poisoning people and the environment.
But in his ruling, Kurren said county leaders on Kauai could not attempt local regulation, agreeing with arguments made by DuPont, Syngenta, Agrigenetics Inc. and BASF.
“This decision in no way diminishes the health and environmental concerns of the people of Kauai,” the judge wrote in his ruling.
Gary Hooser, the Kauai County councillor who introduced the law, said he and others would appeal the ruling.
