A “bad actor” accused of giving away plants infested with little fire ants has had its name cleared by the state Department of Agriculture — but that's done little to ease concerns that the department isn't doing enough to stop invasive species.
The DOA this week said it was finally able to inspect the Pua Lani Landscape Design property. The Waimānalo landscaping company had been publicly linked to LFA-infested plants at the Punahou Carnival in February.
The department conducted two tests on May 10 and 20 and found the invasive ant along the perimeter of the property but not in any of the plants in the company’s production area.
Pua Lani said the property borders fallow, unmaintained land.
DOA Chair Sharon Hurd said the inspections show no evidence that Pua Lani was responsible for the LFA at the carnival. Even though nearly four months had passed since the carnival, Hurd also said it wouldn't be possible to clean the infestation.
“They went into every nook and cranny in the production area, and there was nothing. You can't clean that clean in three months. It has to be maintained. You have to know what you're doing,” she said.
The inspection is the latest development in a monthslong saga involving so-called “bad actor” nurseries and businesses in Hawaiʻi accused of knowingly spreading infested material. There have been concerns that the DOA is protecting them and the local agriculture industry at the cost of the public's well-being.
Pua Lani said that's not a valid threat.
“It would be business suicide to intentionally be spreading pests. None of the legitimate businesses that are operating with plants are intentionally doing anything of that nature. I don't know how the narrative got skewed to people who are running legitimate businesses in this state intentionally trying to hurt their own industry,” said Matt Culver, whose family owns and runs the business.
In a Senate briefing this month, lawmakers publicly named Pua Lani as the likely suspect in the Punahou Carnival incident.
Hurd and other DOA leaders said all the other businesses that donated plants to the carnival agreed to inspections and were found to have no LFA. They said Pua Lani, on the other hand, for months was unresponsive to several calls requesting an inspection.
But a week after the briefing and callout, the department said it was finally able to complete an inspection.
Culver said he did not know the department had reached out to Pua Lani. He said they may have called an outdated phone number. He added that the Senate briefing was the first time he heard the company was among the “bad actor” businesses.
Hurd first told lawmakers in November about so-called “bad actor” nurseries knowingly selling or giving away material that harbored invasive species like LFA. Since then, lawmakers have pushed the department to be tough on those businesses.
But the department has refused to publicly name any of them out of fear of hurting their operations, and said it wants to work with them to resolve the issues.
Although Pua Lani's name was cleared, concerns remain about the agriculture department's apparent resistance to punishing businesses that could be spreading invasive species.
“If it took four months and a Senate investigation to get to this point — what do you think would have happened if we hadn't done the investigation? Would anything have happened?” said Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, who chairs the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.
In a statement, Keohokalole said he was encouraged by the cooperation between the business and the DOA, but that it took too long.
He also said he doesn't trust the department's inspection results at Pua Lani or the department's sense of urgency in fighting invasive species. He and other lawmakers have been frustrated with the department for delaying its response plan for invasive species.
Hurd said the department has done all it can to trace the origins of the LFA at the Punahou Carnival and that the “evidence trail has gone cold.” When asked if the public should expect more work to find where the ants came from, she said, “We have gathered no evidence, and it's time to move on.”
Meanwhile, Culver said Pua Lani is trying to recover from the hit to its reputation and business following the Senate briefing.
“I feel like it's absolutely reckless and irresponsible to throw out allegations based on nothing other than pure speculation that somebody in the community who has a great reputation is some sort of bad actor. To me, that's a fundamental flaw in leadership,” he said.
