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Faced with mounting public opposition, the state Department of Food and
Agriculture no longer plans aerial spraying of a synthetic pheromone
over populated areas to control the light brown apple moth.
Faced with mounting public opposition, the state Department of Food and Agriculture no longer plans aerial spraying of a synthetic pheromone over populated areas to control the light brown apple moth.
Agency spokesman Steve Lyle on Friday, June 20, said aerial application might still be used over agricultural and unoccupied forest lands.
Spraying had been planned over Scotts Valley, San Lorenzo Valley and Bonny Doon, as well as most of Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
As an alternative, the state will distribute sterile apple moths that will hopefully mate with wild moths, leading to fewer offspring. Other ground-based techniques also will be used, including twist ties dipped in the pheromone CheckMate.
The sterile moths are planned to be released over several years starting in spring 2009.
The aerial spray plan was stymied by Santa Cruz and Monterey county superior courts, which ruled that the spraying couldn’t take place without a full environmental impact report.
There also were numerous demonstrations and complaints to state legislators. Several Assembly members had introduced bills to require the agency to improve environmental review and communication with area residents.
A report by Food and Agriculture Secretary A.G. Kawamura to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said the sterile-moth technique was made possible by the faster-than-expected rearing of a moth colony.
The news was greeted with relief by spraying opponents.
“A significant threat to ourselves and our environment has been eliminated,” said John Russo, founder of StopTheSpray.org. “This success is a major inspiration for us all to fight against other chemical trespasses and spray programs by the state and private industry.”
State officials consider the apple moth a major threat to California agriculture, although in court hearings, an agency attorney admitted that he couldn’t show an instance of actual damage to a plant.
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The CDFA has been single minded that only saturated aerial spraying monthly for years can eradicate the moth. And back in 2007 when Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties asked CDFA to wait until an EIR was complete in August 2008, CDFA said that would be too late, the window of opportunity to eradicate the moth would be passed.
Now, after public pressure from cities, lawsuits won by counties, further lawsuits coming, elected officials almost all on board against, millions against it, thousands demonstrating, even the governor finally changing his position and going against it, the CDFA changed their main tool from aerial spray to sterile moths. Also, the sterile moths will be ready, "Fully operational" in 2011, with first release testing in 2009.
But wait. CDFA said aerial was the only way to eradicate and their window of opportunity was only months (CDFA claimed this in late 2007 and early 200
Simple. The moth is not an emergency, never was. The entire CDFA program is a fraud. The hundreds of brand new trucks they purchased, the dozens of facilities they added, the compounds they created inside barb wire fences, the dozens of new positions they created, the tons of toxic chemicals they ordered from Stewart Resnick, the planes they contracted with from Dynamic Aviation, all a fraud. Simply a way to access hundreds of millions of dollars of "Emergency" funds. No emergency, no funds, so CDFA created their own emergency. And since they are the ones who monitor and report progress, this "Emergency" will go on for years and years at about $100 million per year.
The moth has been on the planet for 100's of thousands of years and we've never heard of it being a problem anywhere on this earth before. Except in New Zealand, last century, when due to U.S. pressure, the Kiwis sprayed their farmlands and killed the predators that eat LBAM and many of the other insects. When they stopped spraying, the predators returned from the wild areas they had not sprayed and again there was no problem.
LBAM lives in New Zealand, Australia, Hawaii and the European Union and there are NO EMERGENCIES in any of these places. In Europe, they don't bother to spend a single dollar (.6 euro) to try to keep it out and they don't have any problems with it at all. Maybe the moth only speaks French, and that is the CDFA problem here in California.
If the CDFA LBAM eradication fraud was only money, well back to our TV's. But in executing this fraud, they are also executing children and plenty of us adults too. In carrying out this program, they also apply tons of poisons (in addition to the sexy sounding sterile moth method that won't work) either by air or by truck or by tank on the back of men and it will enter the bodies and organs of every single child and adult in the area of "Eradication." The executions are not generally sudden, except for the rare persons that are particularly and immediately sensitive or allergic. For most, the executions from the poisons are long term as they break down organs and systems in our bodies and the suffering of children and adults cannot be traced back to this "Eradication" program, other than possibly in 30-40 years from now on the Discovery Channel.
Over thirty years from now, when the moth is still living in California and doing just fine, the people of that era will include the LBAM eradication with DDT, Malathion, Asbestos, Lead and a long list of other poisons that made so many people suffer when people "Didn't know better."
Well, got to run. My friend Fred is having an "Emergency" over at his house and it is only a coincidence that there is a big game on today and Fred has the giant awesome TV. We will only be taking care of that "Emergency" …to protect the people, our agriculture, our backyard gardens and our forests, of course.