DEL MONTE
Vultures in
THE PINEAPPLE FIELDS
Sightings from The Catbird Seat
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June 14, 2007
Del Monte fined $24,640
over pesticides
By Gordon Y.K. Pang, Honolulu Advertiser
Del Monte Fresh Produce has been fined $24,640 by the Environmental Protection Agency for failing to properly use registered pesticides at the now-defunct pineapple plantation in Kunia during 2004-05.
The fine was announced by the EPA in a press release yesterday.
The registered pesticides were Teleone II, Assure II and Diazinon 50 W Pro. Del Monte failed to comply with label directions regarding pesticide application and precautions to protect worker health and the environment.
The EPA said the state Department of Agriculture investigated the plantation following worker complaints and discovered 28 violations during inspections performed in April and May of 2004 and September 2005.
Specifically, Del Monte failed to have a certified pesticide worker apply or supervise the application and to notify workers of the pesticide applications. The company also did not provide decontamination supplies to workers and failed to protect workers from being exposed to drifting pesticides.
The EPA is not aware that any workers were injured as a result of the violations, said Dean Higuchi, the agency's Hawai'i spokesman.
"The important thing about this enforcement action is it's a reminder to all companies who apply pesticides on a regular basis to follow all worker protection rules and produce label instructions," Higuchi said. "Just as important, homeowners or anyone else using pesticides need to carefully read and use the produce properly."
Efforts to reach Del Monte officials were unsuccessful.
The settlement is unrelated to the EPA's consent decree with Del Monte and the owner of the land under the plantation, the James Campbell Co., over Superfund violations involving a 1977 spill of 495 gallons of EDB containing .25 percent of DBCP approximately 60 feet from the Kunia well.
Del Monte is proceeding with cleanup of an area of roughly 13 acres, a process that is expected to take about seven years.
The EPA announced earlier this week that it had reached a settlement with Campbell restricting the use of the land in question.
June 13, 2007
In Hawaii case, EPA fines Del Monte
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Howard Dicus
The Environmental Protection Agency has fined Fresh Del Monte Produce for improper use of registered pesticides in violation of federal law.
The $24,640 fine pertains to the pineapple operations in the Kunia area of Oahu, which Saudi-owned Fresh Del Monte abruptly ended last December, a year earlier than it had previously said.
EPA accused Fresh Del Monte of misusing Telone II, Assure II, and Diazinon 50 W Pro in 2004 and 2005. It said the company failed to protect workers from exposure to drifting pesticides, failed to provide decontamination supplies, and failed to tell workers of pesticide applications.
"Companies must ensure employees applying pesticides protect themselves and others from potential pesticide exposure by following all label requirements," said Katherine Taylor, EPA associate director for ecosystems in the Pacific region. "Failure to obey these necessary safeguards is considered a serious violation and can endanger the employees and others in the area."
State inspectors said the violations happened repeatedly. The Hawaii Department of Agriculture discovered 28 violations during inspections performed in April 2004, May 2004 and September 2005.
Worker complaints triggered the initial investigation.
Earlier this week, EPA announced a consent decree with the owner of the Kunia land, the James Campbell Co., which agreed not to build homes or schools on land contaminated by toxic chemicals, and to put an identical requirement into any contract to sell or lease the land to someone else.
Reach Howard Dicus at hdicus@bizjournals.com
February 2, 2006
Del Monte to close pineapple
operations in Hawaii
CBC News
Del Monte Foods Co. — the company that made Hawaii famous for its pineapples — is shutting down its operations on the islands because it is cheaper to grow the fruit somewhere else.
"It would be cheaper for Del Monte to buy pineapples on the open market than for the company to grow, market and distribute Hawaiian pineapple," the company said.
Formerly a part of RJR Nabisco, it was bought by Texas Pacific Group in April 1997.
The last crop will be harvested in mid-2008 with the loss of about 700 jobs.
The departure of the Del Monte operations may affect the viability of the two remaining pineapple companies in Hawaii, Dole Pineapple and Maui Pineapple Co., said Fred Galdones, president of International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142.
"I hope it's not a domino effect like it was with the sugar companies, where one had closed and the others followed suit," he said.
Del Monte claims to be the largest producer and distributor of branded processed fruit and vegetables in the United States, with sales of $1.3 billion US in 2001. It has plants across the United States and in Venezuela....
Del Monte began pineapple operations in Hawaii 90 years ago.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/02/02/delmonte-060202.html
December 3, 2007
Dole Food Co. may sell
some of its Hawaii land
By Andrew Gomes, Advertiser Staff Writer
Dole Food Co. is considering a plan to put some of its Hawai'i land up for sale under a strategy to shed nonstrategic or underperforming assets around the world.
Westlake Village, Calif.-based Dole, which is one of Hawai'i's largest private landowners and the second-largest pineapple producer in the state, said the idea is preliminary and does not involve land on which it grows crops.
"We are committed to our pineapple operations there, and our coffee and cacao," said Dole spokesman Marty Ordman from California. "Nothing is changing with that."
Dole last year reported farming about 2,700 acres of pineapple and 195 acres of coffee and cacao on O'ahu. According to the most recent information from the state Data Book, Dole was the seventh-largest Hawai'i private landowner with 28,472 acres.
Ordman said it would be premature to quantify or identify land being considered for possible sale. "It's very, very preliminary," he said of the idea.
'NONCORE' LAND SALES
Ordman also said he couldn't specify whether the land under consideration for sale is fallow, used by Dole for other purposes than farming, or leased to tenants who farm the land.
If Dole ends up selling Hawai'i real estate, it would add to thousands of acres of agricultural land in the state that has been on the market or sold in recent years, much of which was the result of major pineapple producer Fresh Del Monte Produce Inc. shutting down local operations last year.
The state's largest pineapple producer, Maui Land & Pineapple Co., also has been selling pieces of "noncore" land in recent years.
Maui Land & Pine, which owns more than 25,000 acres on Maui and grows pineapple on roughly 4,000 acres, sold nearly 3,000 acres of mostly agricultural land in the past two years.
Dole disclosed its potential land sale effort in a quarterly financial report, saying the company is "considering a plan to market certain land parcels" in places including Hawai'i and Latin America.
The company has been in the process of selling assets that don't meet its future strategic direction or profit goals.
This year, Dole sold several Chilean farms, and in recent months classified 4,400 acres in California as assets held for sale. Earlier this year, other farmland for fruit and flower operations in California and Latin America were classified as assets held for sale.
Total assets held for sale were valued at $53 million, according to the report detailing three months of business ended Oct. 6.
Dole, which reported $6.2 billion in revenue last year, is the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruits, vegetables and cut flowers, and also markets a growing line of packaged and frozen foods.
The company is owned by billionaire David Murdock, who in 2003 bought out other holders of Dole's publicly traded stock in a $2.5 billion deal that took the firm private.
A STORIED HISTORY
Dole's presence in Hawai'i is a storied one, as it is the place where James Dole founded the company in 1901 as Hawaiian Pineapple Co. and made pineapple production Hawai'i's second-largest industry.
But over the past several decades, with the rise of Dole's international operations and a reduction in Hawai'i farming, much of the company's energy is now concentrated elsewhere.
According to Dole annual reports, the company's O'ahu farming of pineapple on 2,700 acres last year was down from 3,100 acres in 2005. As recently as 2001, the company reported farming 8,000 acres on O'ahu in pineapple as well as papaya and cacao, which included about 1,500 acres the company leased.
Despite the cutbacks, Dole's position in Hawai'i remains significant as a crop producer, employer and landowner.
In addition to the approximately 28,000 acres Dole owns, property records show the company also leases another roughly 20,000 acres, mostly from Kamehameha Schools.
Dole's land holdings don't include property held by its sister company, Castle & Cooke Inc. Castle & Cooke, which owns 98 percent of Lana'i and develops residential and commercial property in Hawai'i and the Mainland, is the third-largest private Hawai'i landowner with about 95,000 acres and also is owned by Murdock.
A decision to sell unproductive land wouldn't change Dole's status as the last major pineapple grower on O'ahu, but Hawai'i pineapple production has been on the decline.
Fresh Hawai'i pineapple production last year dropped to its lowest level since the state began keeping records in 1950.
DWINDLING PINEAPPLE
Much of the reason cited has been competition from foreign producers, and Del Monte's pullout is certain to send local pineapple production to a new low this year.
Florida-based Del Monte quit pineapple production in Hawai'i last year, returning 5,100 acres of leased land in Kunia to local landowner James Campbell Co.
Earlier, in 2004, Del Monte had quit farming pineapple on about 2,000 acres in Wahiawa leased from the George Galbraith Trust.
Campbell has been trying to sell its Kunia land, and has sold or received bids for much of the property, including a purchase earlier this year by Monsanto Co. of 2,300 acres for seed crop operations.
There was a January deadline to bid on the Galbraith land, but the property has not sold.
Andres Albano Jr., a senior vice president with commercial real estate firm CB Richard Ellis, said it has been challenging to sell such vast portions of farmland because the land is often too expensive for small diversified crop farmers but too big for a single user. "There's really no other single crop to replace sugar and pineapple," he said.
Albano, who also was involved in an effort five years ago to sell 70,000 acres of primarily agricultural land on the Big Island and Maui for C. Brewer & Co., said buyers for the Brewer property included wealthy individuals who planned to establish estates or hold the property for possible future development.
Private and public trusts and nonprofit organizations set up to preserve open space also have been active in buying Hawai'i agriculture property.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com.
November 10, 2005
First Pacific to acquire
40% stake in Del Monte
It plans to bid for rest of fruit processor
By Ian C. Sayson
MANILA: First Pacific of Hong Kong said Thursday that it had agreed to pay $164 million for a 40 percent stake in Del Monte Pacific, the world's largest pineapple canner.
First Pacific will make a mandatory offer to buy the remainder of Del Monte Pacific after it completes the purchase of the stake held by Cirio Finanziaria of Italy, the First Pacific chief executive, Manuel Pangilinan, said.
The 40 percent stake is worth 238 million Singapore dollars, or $140 million, based on Del Monte Pacific's closing price Wednesday in Singapore.
The purchase of Del Monte Pacific will expand the food business of First Pacific, which controls the Indonesian company Indofood Sukses Makmur, the world's biggest instant-noodles maker.
The deal will mark the end of a two-year attempt by Cirio, which is in liquidation, to sell its 40 percent stake to companies including San Miguel and H.J. Heinz.
"What attracts us to Del Monte is that a significant portion of its revenues are export driven," Pangilinan said in an interview. "Del Monte also has a very strong brand in the Philippines, it's starting in India and has a growing presence in China."
Del Monte Pacific owns the Del Monte trademark in the Philippines and the right to produce and market Del Monte products in the Indian subcontinent.
It owns the China-based Great Lakes Fresh Foods and Juice, which makes juice under the Great Lakes, Ming Lang, Rougemont and Welch's brands.
The pineapple canner had a $28.1 million profit on sales of $199.6 million last year. It had net income of $30.2 million in 2003 on revenue of $199.2 million. Amid competition from lower-priced noodle makers, profit at Indofood almost halved to $42.3 million last year after it fell 18 percent to $70.4 million in 2003.
"First Pacific plans to seek full ownership and look at immediate synergies we can get from Del Monte and Indofood," said a First Pacific spokesman, David Nugent. He said the purchase of Cirio Finanziaria's stake should be completed in January.
Cirio is under liquidation after defaulting on ... $1.53 billion, in November 2002. Its assets are being sold as part of a court-managed bankruptcy procedure.
MCI, Del Monte Pacific's second-biggest shareholder, must waive its right to match the Hong Kong-based company's offer for the 40 percent stake so the purchase can proceed, First Pacific said. MCI is owned by the Lorenzo family of the Philippines, where Del Monte Pacific has a plantation and production facility that handles 20 percent of the world's annual supply of processed pineapples. MCI owns 21 percent of Del Monte Pacific.
First Pacific will pay for Cirio's stake mostly with its own cash. It will borrow funds to bankroll the purchase of the rest of Del Monte Pacific under the tender offer, which probably will be completed in the second quarter of 2006, Pangilinan said.
www.iht.com/articles/2005/11/10/bloomberg/sxdel.php#end_main
May 3, 2005
EPA Approves Plan To Clean Up
Kunia Pesticide Spill
Del Monte Set To Spend $13 Million To Clear Contamination
KUNIA, Oahu, Hawaii -- The Environmental Protection Agency has approved a plan by Del Monte Corp. to clean up water and soil contaminated by pesticides in Kunia.
The Central Oahu land is one of only three EPA Superfund sites in Hawaii.
Tests revealed that the groundwater in the Kunia Village area was contaminated after 500 gallons of pesticides spilled there 25 years ago. And 11 years ago, in 1994, the federal government added it to the Superfund list.
In 1980, officials disconnected the Kunia well from Kunia Village's drinking water supply immediately after the pesticide contamination was discovered.
The EPA is monitoring the cleanup and Del Monte is paying to decontaminate the soil and water at its pineapple plantation. The company is expected to spend about $13 million for a cleaning operation that will take between five and eight years.
"Some of the pesticides are banned. And they also have infiltrated into some of the groundwater wells in the area. So at this point, our concern is to get the groundwater wells as clean as possible to protect the environment and the people in the area," said Dean Higuchi, of the EPA.
Contaminated shallow groundwater is being cleaned using Hale Koa trees. It's a technique called phytoremediation.
"They're actually pumping some of the shallow groundwater and letting the plants absorb it. Tests have shown that it's an actual effective method to remove the contamination from the shallow groundwater," Higuchi said.
The EPA said tests of the method since 1998 have been successful.
Deep groundwater will be pumped and cleaned using air stripping and carbon filters. That water is used for irrigation, not drinking.
Del Monte has installed about 30 monitoring and extraction wells. Orange wells already dot the landscape and more are on the way. Construction of the expanded cleanup operation is already under way.
Del Monte employees, who live in Kunia Village, said they don't worry about the quality of their drinking water.
"All clear. Nothing happened. No more the kind negative. Good water over here," Del Monte employee Jose Oliveros said.
Oliveros is a welding specialist who has lived there for 25 years. He said the state Health Department goes to his home every month to test his drinking water and they've told him it is safe.
Del Monte officials in Hawaii refused to comment for the story, as did their corporate attorneys at their company headquarters in Coral Gables, Fla.
http://www.kitv.com/news/4446794/detail.html
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MORE VULTURES TO PERCH HERE SOON...
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DIRTY MONEY, DIRTY POLITICS & BISHOP ESTATE
Part I - Part II - Part III - Part IV - Part V - Part VI
~ ~ ~
THE MATING OF AOL & TIME-WARNER
BCCI: THE BANK OF CROOKS & CRIMINALS
THE BUZZARDS IN THE HALLS OF PUNAHOU
VAMPIRES IN THE CASTLE (& COOKE)
A CONNECTICUT YANKEE IN KING KAMEHAMEHA’S COURT
CONFESSIONS OF A WHISTLEBLOWER
THE DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS OF DOW CHEMICAL
THE EAGLE HOODED: THE 9-11 COVERUP
FLYING HIGH IN HAWAII: THE RON REWALD STORY
THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY
KAJIMA: BLOOD, BRIBES & BRUTALITY
THE KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS’ RETIREMENT FUND
THE VULTURES ON MAUI LAND & PINE
VULTURES IN THE HAWAII NATURE CONSERVANCY
OFFICE OF THE U.S. TRUSTEE VS. HARMON
THE CONSUELO ZOBEL ALGER FOUNDATION
THE EAGLE HOODED: THE 9-11 COVERUPS
MARSH & McLENNAN: THE MARSH BIRDS
PRUDENTIAL: A NEST ON SHAKY GROUND
P-S-S-T, WANNA BUY A GOOD AUDIT?
SUKAMTO SIA: THE INDONESIAN CONNECTION
THE RISE & FALL OF SUMMIT COMMUNICATIONS
THE VAMPIRES ON JUPITER ISLAND
THE VULTURES IN MAUNAWILI VALLEY
VULTURES OF THE SANDWICH ISLES
VAMPIRES IN THE CASTLE (& COOKE)
ZEROING IN ON ZURICH FINANCIAL SERVICES
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Last updated December 23, 2007, by The Catbird