Tue, 08 Apr
2008 05:40:02 GMT- E-mail
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SF: ARRIVAL OF LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH BRING SPRAYING CONTROVERSY TO
CITY
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN)
Following an emotional public hearing, a San Francisco Board of Supervisors
committee today forwarded a resolution to the full board opposing a state plan
to conduct aerial chemical spraying in the city to eradicate the invasive light
brown apple moth.
The resolution, introduced by Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, opposes aerial
spraying by the state Department of Food and Agriculture, which is scheduled to
begin in San Francisco as early as Aug. 1, in favor of "least-toxic"
ground-based options.
"As it stands now, I am not convinced that there needs to be any spraying,"
said Mirkarimi today to wide applause from dozens of members of the public who
attended today's hearing at City Hall.
"I'm just against it," he said.
Mirkarimi referred to the proposal to saturate parts of San Francisco with a
pheromone intended to inhibit moth breeding as "a neutron bomb effect."
The light brown apple moth, native to Australia, has been found recently in
parts of the Central Coast and the Bay Area, including San Francisco, and is
considered a serious threat to plants and agricultural crops.
Federal and state agriculture officials claim that if the moth is allowed to
spread throughout the state, it could cause between $160 million and $640
million in crop damage each year.
After aerial spraying last year in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, hundreds
of residents reported respiratory and other problems ranging from mild to
severe.
State Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura said in a March 10 open letter that
the pheromone products have been "fully reviewed and approved by state and
federal environmental officials, who have not found any reason for concern in
more than a decade of use." He denied they contributed to any of the health
problems.
The Department of Food and Agriculture plans to continue aerial spraying to
eradicate the pests beginning June 1 in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, and
Aug. 1 in San Francisco and parts of Marin, Alameda, Contra Costa and San Mateo
counties.
Though the plan also includes placing "twist ties" containing the pheromone
on trees, shrubs and fence posts in infested areas, and the release of millions
of tiny, stingerless wasps that target the moth's eggs, the department considers
aerial spraying its main option.
"Everything we're doing, we have information will work," Department of Food
and Agriculture entomologist Robert Dowell told the committee today.
James Carey, an entomologist from the University of California, Davis, said
he respected Dowell as a colleague but referred to the decision to conduct
spraying as "scientifically misguided."
"There's other tools we can use," Carey said, calling on the state to gather
more input from local scientists, many of whom believe eradication of the light
brown apple moth is impossible, but are reluctant to go public because they are
afraid of losing funding, he said.
Carey said no insect has ever been eradicated using a pheromone.
"It simply doesn't work," he said, adding that he believed the moth was
already too widespread to completely remove. He instead advised a "program of
containment" to slow its spread.
Mirkarimi's resolution also calls for the state to conduct a long-term study
of health and environmental impacts of the aerial spraying that has already
taken place in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, and for state legislation
requiring the consent of residents before any aerial spraying.
Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval, who organized today's hearing, expressed concern
about the health of San Francisco residents, especially young children, seniors
and those with respiratory and immune diseases.
With two young children of his own, Sandoval asked, "Am I going to know when
the spraying happens so I can get out of town?"
Michael Lynberg, a Silicon Valley businessman living in Pacific Grove told
the committee today that after he and his wife came down with bronchial symptoms
following last year's aerial spraying in Monterey County, he set up an e-mail
for residents to report health problems from the spraying.
Lynberg said he has since documented more than 800 complaints and called the
proposed spraying in San Francisco -- which would be the most densely populated
area yet targeted in Northern California -- "an experiment on people without
their informed consent."
Department of Food and Agriculture spokesman Steve Lyle said today that while
the same pheromone will be used in spraying this year, the department is still
researching which other inert chemicals -- used in the pheromone's delivery
system -- will be part of the concoction.
Lyle said officials hope to decide later this month after environmental and
animal testing on the chemicals by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the
state Environmental Protection Agency.
Once a decision is made, residents will be given "as much notice as possible"
about spraying dates and locations, and possible health precautions, through
mailed letters, Lyle said. Lyle said it was hoped the letters would arrive
"several weeks" in advance of spraying.
Lyle said he was "not sure" if the letters would contain information about
all the chemicals used in the spraying.
"The expectation is that those products will be disclosed," said Lyle.
Mirkarimi acknowledged the resolution could not supersede state action, but
said he hoped a "heavily informed grassroots response" would bring reforms in
state legislation.
He later added an amendment to the resolution that would ask the San
Francisco City Attorney's Office to investigate whether the city could pursue
any legal options to halt the spraying.
A second resolution proposed by Mayor Gavin Newsom and supervisors Bevin
Dufty and Tom Ammiano -- which also passed the committee today -- supports state
Sen. Carole Migden's pending legislation to bring a moratorium on light brown
apple moth aerial spraying.
Both resolutions received the support today of committee members Aaron Peskin
and Sophie Maxwell. The other committee member, Supervisor Tom Ammiano, was
absent from the hearing.
(© 2007 The Associated Press. All Rights
Reserved. In the interest of timeliness, this story is fed directly from the
Associated Press newswire and may contain occasional typographical errors. )
