Defending Maui Residents from Pesticides and GE Contamination

Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety are representing a coalition of residents and farmers in a legal effort to defend a Maui County ballot initiative that prohibits the growth, testing, or cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops until their safety is proven through environmental and public health studies.

• A coalition including The Mothers on a Mission (MOM) Hui, Molokaʻi Mahiʻai, and farmer Gerry Ross, represented by Earthjustice and the Center for Food Safety, filed papers in Honolulu federal district court to support a Maui County safety initiative. This initiative bans the cultivation, testing, or growth of GE crops until studies demonstrate that such operations are safe for public health and the environment.
• On November 13, 2014, Monsanto, Dow-owned Agrigenetics, and industry groups sued Maui County to overturn the moratorium and requested an injunction. Maui County agreed to an injunction that delayed the measure's effectiveness until March 2015.
• Opponents of the Maui initiative, primarily Monsanto and Dow, spent $7,970,686.12 on the campaign, which equates to $362.22 per vote earned or $174.43 per total vote cast.
• Hawaiʻi is utilized as an outdoor laboratory for GE crop and pesticide testing; in 2013, the state had 1,124 field test sites, compared to 184 sites in California.

APA

Ross, G. (2014). Defending Maui Residents from Pesticides and GE Contamination. Earthjustice. https://earthjustice.org/case/defending-maui-residents-from-pesticides-and-ge-contamination

Chicago

Ross, Gerry. Defending Maui Residents from Pesticides and GE Contamination. Earthjustice, 2014. https://earthjustice.org/case/defending-maui-residents-from-pesticides-and-ge-contamination.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ross |first1=Gerry |title=Defending Maui Residents from Pesticides and GE Contamination |publisher=Earthjustice |date=24 November 2014 |url=https://earthjustice.org/case/defending-maui-residents-from-pesticides-and-ge-contamination |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ross2014defending, author = {Ross, Gerry}, title = {{Defending Maui Residents from Pesticides and GE Contamination}}, institution = {Earthjustice}, year = {2014}, month = nov, url = {https://earthjustice.org/case/defending-maui-residents-from-pesticides-and-ge-contamination}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }