My fingers trembled so much I almost dropped it again. Why was it so blurry? Everything was. I blinked several times. Oh, snap, was I crying? I gazed up at Benni’s face. She had tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Yes,” she whispered.
Bad McKenna chuckled. “Nice job, Bozo, you didn’t even ask.”
Good McKenna just sighed.
Author’s Notes
We have been traveling to Hawai‘i for nearly thirty years. For the first fifteen years we were like so many other tourists, enjoying the scenery, the island vibe, and not seeing the issues behind life in the islands. During our last trip to Maui, Kathy and I were the only two passengers on a tour shuttle traveling along the Honoapi‘ilani Highway between Lāhainā and Papawai Point. Curious about why the land along the coast was barren and undeveloped, I asked our driver. That’s when I heard the sad truth about Maui, water, and atrazine.
The issues discussed in “Maui Magic” are, or were, all real. In 1835, Ladd & Co. created the first sugarcane plantation on Kaua‘i. Sugarcane production grew through the 1840s and in 1848, a land division law proposed by King Kamehameha III known as The Great Māhele was passed. The law allowed foreigners to own land for the first time.
The plantations were controlled by descendants of missionary families, who also had a close relationship with the Hawaiian monarchy. These relationships gave the plantations the ability to influence legislation which allowed them to prosper.
Laborers began immigrating to Hawai‘i in 1850. The first came from China, with the first Japanese arriving in 1878. Japanese immigration was halted as described in McKenna’s conversation with Mrs. Nakamura.
The Wailuku Water Company really was once the Wailuku Sugar Company and was selling water for a delivery fee. The last sugar company on Maui was HC&S, which closed at the end of 2016. The lawsuit filed by Earthjustice did take ten years to resolve and eventually lead to the opening of Na Wai ‘Ehā, the Four Great Rivers.
The issue of atrazine use is a complex one. I hope the discussions in the story accurately reflect the opposing views, but here are the key points. The industry claims the herbicide is “Safe for people, good for the environment and the economy.” (http://atrazine.com). In 2001, atrazine was the most commonly detected pesticide in US drinking water, yet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) consistently maintained the herbicide posed no significant risk. The European Union, however, banned the use of atrazine in 2003. In 2012, Syngenta settled a class action lawsuit brought by twenty water utility companies for $105 million. The lawsuit accused the company of polluting local water supplies. In 2016, the EPA began conducting a new risk assessment in which it proposed tightening the limits on atrazine.
Maui Magic Page 28