More Medflies Found; Spraying Due Despite Complaints

County agriculture officials reported the discovery Tuesday of four more Mediterranean fruit flies in the Palms area and readied plans for aerial spraying tonight over the Westside.

Officials in two communities affected by the spraying complained that they had not been given adequate warning.

Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner E. Leon Spaugy said that county workers found four more Medflies on Monday in traps in the 1000 block of Alvira Street near La Cienega and Airdrome boulevards.

Spaugy said that the latest trappings, added to the 30 flies found over the weekend near Palms, amounted to a “fairly significant infestation.”

State and federal officials Tuesday announced a 76-square-mile quarantine area, stretching from Vermont Avenue on the east, Florence Avenue and Centinela avenues on the south, Bundy Drive and Centinela Avenue on the west and Sunset and Hollywood boulevards on the north.

Fruit grown on farms and back yard groves within the quarantine area cannot be taken outside the borders. Bob Donley, deputy director for environmental protection in the agricultural commissioner’s office, said that inspectors will check markets, street vendors and farmers’ markets to ensure that any fruit sold in the area has been under cover.

Spaugy said that three helicopters will spray a malathion-treated bait over a smaller 35-square mile area starting at 10 p.m. tonight. He estimated that the spraying will take 8 to 10 hours and will be repeated next week if the first effort is ineffective.

Even if the spraying works, agriculture officials plan to release millions of sterile fruit flies to ensure that surviving Medflies will not reproduce. Authorities have released 300 million sterile flies in a similar effort in the San Fernando Valley.

Although 250 volunteers handed out flyers to notify 100,000 residents before the spraying starts, city officials in West Hollywood and Culver City complained that they were not given adequate warning.

West Hollywood City Council members did not learn of the spraying until a resident brandished a flyer during a council meeting Monday night. “We had residents calling and we had no idea what they were calling about and no information to give them,” said Nancy Greenstein, an aide to Councilman John Heilman.

Culver City Councilwoman Jozelle Smith said that although city officials there were notified Monday about the spraying, it left them unprepared for the flood of phone calls from residents seeking more information.

“I’m really distressed about the way it is being handled,” Smith said. “Our city was very unprepared to handle the calls coming into City Hall.”

Donley replied that agriculture officials delivered information to all municipal officials within the spraying area by Tuesday afternoon. “I can’t speak as to why they weren’t notified any earlier,” he said.

Dozens of residents called officials with questions about malathion’s safety. Linda Bright, a Beverly Hills resident, said she worried about the spray residue turning up in sandboxes and playgrounds.

Agriculture officials minimized those fears, insisting as they have in the past that humans are not adversely effected by malathion. Asked about calls from anxious residents in Beverly Hills, Spaugy said: “We’ve heard from them, and we encourage those people to cover up their Rolls-Royces, just like their Ford Pintos.”

Times staff writer Julio Moran contributed to this story.