A Dose of Sense: Bills Introduced to Reform Pesticide Policy Following Aerial Spraying for Light Brown Apple Moth

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League

In the fall of 2007, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) began a series of aerial pesticide applications in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties to control the spread of the invasive light brown apple moth. Following the sprayings, more than 600 reports of health problems emerged, including respiratory difficulties, eye irritation, dizziness, severe skin rashes and headaches, nausea and intestinal pain. Residents also reported deaths of birds, aquatic species, and otherwise healthy pets.

CDFA plans to expand its spraying to the San Francisco Bay Area this August and continue spraying three times per month until the moth is eradicated.

Blanket spraying contradicts environmentally responsible pest management practices, and infringes on California law that protects the environment and the public’s right to consent to spraying. Less toxic approaches include using naturally occurring predators, parasites, and insect diseases as well as stationary pheromone bait traps, allowing the ecosystem to respond to the pest, and cleaning up plant debris during dormancy.

In response to the proposed spraying, Senator Carol Migden has introduced Senate Committee Resolution 87, which would request that CDFA impose a moratorium on any aerial spraying that may be a part of the Department's eradication campaign of the light brown apple moth until it can demonstrate that the pheromone compound it intends to use is both safe to humans and effective at eradicating the light brown apple moth.

Several other bills have been introduced, including: