Spraying Set for Thursday in New Medfly Infestation

Aerial spraying of malathion has been scheduled for Thursday night over a 14-square-mile area north of downtown Los Angeles because of an infestation of the crop-destroying Mediterranean fruit fly, agricultural officials said Tuesday.

Gov. George Deukmejian signed papers declaring a state of emergency to permit the spraying as California Conservation Corps members canvassed the neighborhood distributing leaflets announcing the spraying.

Cause of Action

County Agricultural Commissioner E. Leon Spaugy said he hurriedly drew up an eradication plan after a third Medfly was trapped in a lemon tree Sunday, two blocks from the Elysian Park location where the first fly was found July 20. The second fly was found last Wednesday about a mile and a half away.

The Medfly poses a danger to the state’s multimillion-dollar agricultural industry because females lay their eggs in fruits and vegetables, which become infested with maggots and become unsalable.

Spaugy said his office will use the same battle plan that led to eradication of the Medfly earlier this year from West Los Angeles and last year from Northridge.

Breeding Tactic

Aerial spraying, expected to last one night, will be followed by the release of 50 million sterile Medflies. By mating with the sterile male flies, females, in effect, breed themselves out of existence. A quarantine also will be imposed, prohibiting the removal of home-grown fruit from the area.

Spaugy said that details of the eradication effort will be announced at a press conference today. Agricultural inspectors, joined by more than 100 members of the California Conservation Corps, walked door-to-door Tuesday distributing 40,000 flyers announcing that spraying will take place from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Thursday, weather permitting.

The leaflets say, “Malathion is considered one of the safest insecticides in use today. For more than 35 years, it has been widely used by home gardeners. It is used in many U.S. cities to control mosquitoes and in Europe it is used by physicians to treat head lice in children. Health authorities agree that at this extreme low dose, pregnant women have no cause for concern.”

The leaflets tell residents to put their cars in garages or cover them during the spraying. A syrupy protein bait that is mixed in with the insecticide could damage paint finishes, officials said. Pet dishes should be covered or brought indoors.

The neighborhood to be sprayed is bounded roughly by Los Feliz Boulevard and the Glendale Freeway on the north, 3rd Street on the south, the Harbor and Pasadena freeways and San Fernando Road on the east and Western Avenue on the west. It includes Echo Park and Silver Lake.

“We will probably not treat Dodger Stadium, even though it is within the area” because there are few, if any, fruit trees there, Spaugy said. The Dodgers go on the road tonight.

After the third fly was found in the 1600 block of Sargent Place, Spaugy set up a conference call Monday between his office in Los Angeles, state agricultural officials in Sacramento and Medfly experts in Florida, Hawaii and Guatemala to formulate a strategy.

They all agreed, Spaugy said, that “based on finding three Medflies within close proximity, we do have an infestation, and the recommendation was that we move quickly” to eradicate.

Spaugy expressed frustration with the rash of agricultural pests in Los Angeles County this year. His department is currently battling Oriental fruit fly infestations in three parts of the county.

“Unfortunately, it’s like the law enforcement people trying to get a handle on the drug smugglers,” he said. “We don’t have adequate personnel to plug all of the holes in the dike.”

“All it takes is one person bringing one piece of fruit from an invested area to start an infestation like this one,” Spaugy said. Agricultural officials doubt that anyone will admit blame for the infestation, considering there is a $10,000 fine for bringing in fruit that triggers an infestation.

The Medfly gained prominence in California in 1981, when then-Gov. Edmund G. (Jerry) Brown Jr. was blamed by farmers for aggravating the Medfly crisis in Santa Clara County by delaying aerial pesticide spraying. Eventually, the state spent $100 million to eradicate the pest, and growers lost an additional $100 million in sales because of a quarantine.