U.S. Department of Agriculture investigators have determined Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc.’s cross-contamination of a small number of plants on Kaua‘i posed little environmental danger.
The Pioneer work led to $72,000 in fines levied against the company by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for non-compliance with permits for work on experimental, genetically modified corn crops in Waimea earlier this year.
In a Web site notice, officials with DOA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service announced their investigation was completed, and recommended no further action against Pioneer.
APHIS’s Investigative and Enforcement Services division initiated the investigation in May, and determined that of 337,000 leaf and seed samples taken from surrounding research fields, 12 leaf samples indicated cross contamination, the agency said in a notice on a Web site.
The impurity level was confined to the equivalent of one of the 28,800 plants, DOA officials said.
The level of contamination was not unexpected, and is “a normal occurrence of traditional breeding programs,” officials said.
The investigative arm determined that no conditions of the APHIS permit were violated, and that no unapproved corn plants entered the food or feed supply, officials said.
The cross-contaminated corn also was destroyed immediately, agency officials said. Douglas Tiffany, a Pioneer research scientist on Kaua‘i, was not immediately available for comment on the announcement.
Pioneer representatives paid a $72,000 federal fine in spring for having failed to notify government officials that genetically engineered corn was growing near other crops in Waimea.
The fine also was levied because Pioneer representatives didn’t promptly report the location of seeds with the experimental gene.
Many residents have said that the science of genetically engineered plants is incomplete and its long-term results unknown, and were alarmed by Pioneer’s practices at the time.
Pioneer officials retested the plants, and more sensitive DNA testing showed a negative reading.
Tiffany had said the delay in sending the information to EPA stemmed from a misunderstanding over when the preliminary results were to be sent.
The two reporting conditions were part of an agreement EPA officials had reached with Pioneer representatives in a separate $9,000 settlement in December 2002.
After paying the fine, Pioneer officials completed testing that met EPA’s requirement.
Earlier this year, a field test regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture also revealed 12 positive readings, triggering DOA’s latest investigation of the 12 leaf samples in May.
In related news, APHIS officials yesterday announced the establishment of a new biotechnology “compliance and enforcement unit” to ensure companies and organizations maintain compliance with DOA biotechnology regulations.
The enforcement unit would be attached to the DOA’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services division.
Compliance with APHIS regulations by the bio-tech industry has been high for the last 15 years, APHIS Administrator Bobby Acord said in a news release.
But with ever-changing science, “it is imperative that safeguards in place to protect America’s agriculture continue to evolve,” Acord said. Hence the new enforcement unit was established.
The new program will focus on “violation-prevention efforts,” establishing criterion for “quality” inspections, and “auditing, uniform enforcement and thorough documentation,” Acord said.
