https://origin.marinij.com/marin/ci_8268623
Pesticide spraying plan sparks outcry
Brad Breithaupt
Article Launched: 02/15/2008 12:10:52 AM PST
A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, discusses the threat posed by the light brown apple moth during a public hearing at the Civic Center on Thursday. (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)
Plans to start spraying in Marin to halt the spread of the invasive light brown apple moth packed a Civic Center meeting room Thursday with many people urging the state not to launch an aerial attack.
A special hearing drew a standing-room only crowd that heard state and Marin County officials outline their strategies for eradicating the destructive moth. The hearing was held a day after the state announced plans to begin aerial spraying on the Tiburon Peninsula and possibly parts of Sausalito.
After state officials spoke Thursday about the safety of the pheromone-based formula they plan to use, they got an earful from many in the crowd who said they worry about the health effects of the spray that would be used to get rid of the moth that has damaged plants and products in New Zealand and Australia.
"We are hearing a lot of complaints, and it's hard to assess them in the absence of research," said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials.
"We have to protect the apple trees - but we don't want poison apples," said state Sen. Carole Migden, D-San Francisco.
Marin has trapped enough moths that the state plans to put pheromone-coated twist ties on trees and tall bushes in San Rafael, mostly along the San Pedro Peninsula in the eastern part of the city.
The twist ties will be placed starting Feb. 19.
But the number of moths trapped on the Tiburon Peninsula was so high that state officials concluded aerial spraying is necessary.
The spraying would not start until August because the state needs to decide the proper formula for the spray. It would be conducted in 30-90 day intervals.
But spraying has already drawn protests in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, where anti-pesticide groups gathered names of more than 600 people who said they became ill after last year's spraying.
State officials said they are developing a new formula for the spray.
Both strategies will be in use months before the state completes an environmental report that would study the threat of the moth and answer questions about health hazards raised by the spraying.
Warning from the state
A.G. Kawamura, the state's food and agriculture secretary, said the population of moths could explode and become a larger problem if the state waits until its report and public hearings are completed.
"The quickness of your eradication is something that drives this process," he said.
Larry Bezark, the department's assistant director, said the moth was first found in Berkeley last March and its population has spread to 10 counties, including Marin, by hitching on plants or by winds.
Ninety moths have been found in Marin. In Santa Cruz, traps have collected 10,755 moths.
Bezark said the state faces "a significant risk" of infestation.
"We've found almost 16,000 to date since we began the trapping process," he said. "The moth will spread to other areas of California if nothing is done. É The populations are still small and susceptible to eradication."
In Australia, the moth is blamed for damaging 1.3 percent of the commercially raised apples, pears, oranges and grapes. California agriculture officials estimate the annual cost of that level of damage in the state could reach $133 million.
Federal agriculture officials are also worried about the pest's spread and could take over the eradication if the state fails to take action, Kawamura said.
How the spraying works
The pheromone disrupts mating by mimicking the attractant mating scent emitted by female moths. It prevents male moths from finding females.
"If they don't mate, the populations crash," Bezark said.
State and county officials said it is safer than chemicals used in the past to eradicate pests.
The state also plans to use a tiny, stingerless wasp that feeds on moth eggs and sterile moths, but it hasn't raised enough to use them widely.
Marin County Agricultural Commissioner Stacy Carlsen said he's "very comfortable" with the safety of the state's strategies, both the twist ties and plans for spraying.
"This is really the opportunity to back this thing out of Marin County," he said.
The first evidence Marin residents will see is the reddish twist ties hanging from trees in San Rafael.
"You are going to see a few of these things?" asked Huffman at Thursday's hearing.
"Think Christmas," responded Carlsen.
Outcry at hearing
But the audience targeted the state's plans for spraying.
Paul Schramske, executive director of Pesticide Watch, a Sacramento-based environmental group, urged the state to declare "a good-faith moratorium" on aerial spraying so the state's plans can be fully studied and reviewed by the public.
Belvedere City Manager George Roderick said he was told of the state's plans last week. He said he's hoping the state will have local meetings on the problem and the need for spraying.
"I don't think we want to stand in the way of what needs to happen," he said.
Many speakers expressed greater concern about the formula than use of the pheromone because state officials said they could not say what compound would be mixed with the attractant.
Former Fairfax Mayor Frank Egger, who helped write some of his town's anti-pesticide laws, urged the Legislature to adopt a moratorium on aerial spraying.
"Please enact a moratorium until we know what they want to spray is safe," he said.
"They said they weren't going to spray in our waterways. Here's the foam in our river," said Santa Cruz Councilman Ed Porter, holding up photographs. "We should have the right not to breathe that stuff," he said.
"We have to stop poisoning our air and our water," added Wendy McPhee of Ross, who said local residents would be "much happier" if state limited its moth-fighting arsenal to twist ties.
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