The following continues the serialization of Chapter 2 from SIMPLE SOLUTIONS for Humanity:
The Curse Continues
Kelton McKinley was assigned to meet with the quarantine people to determine how best to have the Mitsui Collection sent to Hawaii. Little did we know that the biological scientists at the university had had a long and bitter struggle to import anything resembling bacteria into the State. Even simple teaching samples were a problem.
Kelton presented his case to Larry Nakahara and Amy Higa of the Plant Quarantine Branch of the State of Hawaii Department of Agriculture. As I am told, Kelton then asked, “how long will you need for your approval?” Larry responded, “maybe two or three years.” “Two or three years for only one specimen?” Asked Kelton. “Do you have more than one sample?” Amy inquired. When Kelton said “maybe 3000 species,” they promptly kicked him out of the conference room.
Now, it is possible that Dr. McKinley was a bit angered. He was very bright, quick-witted and, well, short-tempered. Kelton had grown up in Ohio, and, he told me, watched his father, a union organizer, get beaten. Ohio, furthermore, has odd enclaves of religious cults. He was divorced from his wife, but was very protective of his daughter, who must have been about 7 years old at that time. His wife had recently written that she would be sending their daughter to one of those religious schools in that state that did not believe in evolution. Kelton was already in a troubled mental state when he walked into the quarantine office.
With no particular confidence, we arranged a second meeting, and, just as I was about to enter the conference room, a person who looked very familiar, walked by, who also recognized me. He was Dr. Glenn Takahashi (no relation), and he was Nakahara’s and Higa’s supervisor. We had last seen each other, maybe, half a century ago, when, as kids, we played. He decided to sit in. Also, there was Dr. Lyle Wong, higher up in the organization from the Division of Plant Industry. I don’t know if my friendship with Glen was it, for in the totality of things, anything or nothing can make an important difference, or if Dr. Wong was the key, and he was the equivalent of an angel, but, in effect, we were constructively instructed to meet with the director of the Department of Agriculture, who would gain the governor’s approval, and go to the State Legislature, as they were being difficult only because the laws forced them to be conservative. We also had to pass through the Board of Agriculture.
On March 23, 1995, Kelton McKinley instantly died of a heart attack, at the age of 45. This was a total shock. He was the key individual who had worked out the protocol and arranged to move the Mitsui Collection to Hawaii. You can write a book of what he had to go through just to get us this far. HNEI did not have another micro-bio person, so, we asked Dr. Kathleen Baker, someone who approximated the background of Kelton, and was hired by him to do some minor lab technician work. Rather than go through the hiring process, I just assigned her the leadership role. To be honest, she had just the right unassuming personality (unlike Kelton) to take on the task, so she became Interim Director of the Bioresources Laboratory at Kewalo Basin, where the repository would be located.
I should add that at this point, we did have a position, and there was thus an opportunity to hire a world class individual or just qualify Dr. Baker for this slot. Details will be provided in the next section, but the decision to seek the best eventually led to at least two suits, although success was eventually attained when the University of Hawaii was ultimately awarded the National Science Foundation Marine Bioproducts Engineering Center (NSF MarBEC).
Kathleen and I made the rounds of the Ag offices and the State Legislature. I had to become more active as she had no confidence in meetings at these levels. They all loved what we were proposing: the basis for a new industry in marine biotechnology for the State of Hawaii.
We then faced the Board of Agriculture. We were, again, in luck. At least curses can be neutralized by something called luck. One of the members was a former distinguished professor with my Institute, John Bardach, and another was a long-time collaborator on environmental matters, Gary Gill. The Board not only approved our application, but also determined that a new law was not necessary, for there are provisions for permitting the importation of the type of microorganisms on our list. They were mostly sensitive to larger organisms, like unagi, a type of freshwater eel, which is a Japanese delicacy. So, magically, from a two to three year ordeal, per specimen, to almost total approval of the entire Mitsui Collection, we had come a long way in a few short weeks. Actually, there were several bacteria on a restricted list, which we had to still work out, but that was trivial relative to how much had been accomplished.
This amazing success became a true miracle when we learned through this process that the University of Hawaii had been fighting these agencies for decades. There was a lot of bad blood from previous interactions. The State Legislature had been trying to work out some compromise during all those years and had failed. Not knowing what we were getting into, ignorance allowed us to proceed with enthusiasm. If I had only known the history of this conflict, I would not have even tried to import the Mitsui Collection.
With a few more bumps in the road, the pathway to the NSF MarBEC takes a few positive turns, but the end of the road sees the curse mutating.
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