KAHUKU, Hawaii — Lawmakers in the state senate looked at a bill that would prohibit the spraying of pesticides within a 1,500-foot radius of elementary schools.
Legislators listened to testimony from parents and students about the hazards faced by classrooms near farms and other agricultural properties.
They heard about the most recent case that happened just weeks ago at Waimea Canyon school on Kauai.
Sue Schott, a Waimea Canyon School Teacher said, "While most received symptomatic treatments, one, my daughter was put on an IV and received anti-vomiting medicine. Some received tributeral on a nebulizer to regulate their breathing and a total of 12 students actually came to the ER that day.”
The bill would also impose a 72-hour written notice to all schools in the immediate area of ground spraying. And would create a half-mile buffer zone for the aerial spraying of pesticides.
A similar problem happened in Kahuku last year.
Read the full KHNL story here.