2nd Medfly Spraying Scheduled for Tonight

For the second time in as many weeks, agriculture officials plan to take to the air tonight in three helicopters to battle the Mediterranean fruit fly, spraying hundreds of gallons of pesticide mix over a 26-square-mile area that includes parts of Brea, La Habra and Fullerton.

But once again, blustery winds could complicate plans, threatening to blow the malathion mixture out of the 26-square-mile target area, where four of the pesky flies have been found, and into surrounding neighborhoods. “We’ll have to wait and see about the wind,” Orange County Agricultural Commissioner James D. Harnett said Monday, “but right now, everything seems under control. We’ve done this once, and we’re geared up for whatever might arise.”

The spraying probably will be repeated in the North County region about a dozen times in coming months as state agriculture officials try to stop the crop-destroying fly’s recent spread around the Southland.

But after just one spraying so far in county history, the process already seems to have become routine, judging by the relative calm Monday at North County city halls and county agriculture offices.

“It’s pretty quiet around here,” said Brea Mayor Carrey J. Nelson. “It’s certainly an inconvenience, but the people here recognize that this monster can tear up our agriculture and that this has to be done.”

Added La Habra Mayor Beth Graham: “No one’s really talking about it.”

And at the county’s Medfly hot line--(714) 447-7118--only about 50 people had called by late afternoon, most to ask where and when the spraying was taking place or to say they thought they had spotted a Medfly. (None of the spottings reported to the county in recent weeks have turned out to be Medflies.)

The response contrasted with the days just before the first spraying on Nov. 30, when hundreds of residents, some frantic, called the hot line to ask about malathion’s possible health effects.

“There are two theories” about Monday’s calm, county agricultural technician Theresa Knitter said during a lull at the hot line office. “One is that people just don’t know about the spraying, and the other is that they just don’t care.”

Residents in a 16-square-mile area, including a one-square-mile area of La Habra, got flyers informing them of tonight’s spraying, since this will be their first go-around with malathion. Agricultural officials expected residents in the 10-square-mile North County area that was sprayed Nov. 30 to keep up to date through the media and therefore did not send new notices to them. More than 30,000 homes and businesses are in the 26-square-mile spraying area.

National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Neumann reported that Monday’s heavy winds are expected to continue through this morning and subside in the afternoon.

Gera Curry, spokeswoman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said officials will not have to decide whether to go ahead with the spraying until just minutes before the three specially equipped helicopters are to leave El Monte Airport for North County. Spraying is to begin at 9 p.m.

“We won’t know if it’s a go or not until right up to the wire,” she said. But in more than a dozen sprayings in recent months, she noted, “so far we have never been blown out.”

A Medfly also was trapped last week in Westminster, 10 miles farther south than the previous find in Orange County. That raised fears that the pest may have drastically expanded its path of infestation.

But state agricultural officials have decided not to spray the Westminster area now because the trapped fly--while wild and fertile--was not pregnant. Instead, they have nearly tripled the number of trips in that area to see if more flies appear. So far, none has.

TONIGHT’S MEDFLY SPRAYING BEFORE AND DURING THE SPRAYING:

Stay indoors if possible. Officials say the amount of pesticide used in the spray is small enough that contact with it will not cause any long-term health effects. It can be an irritant to the eyes, but no other short-term effect is likely. The semisweet mixture of malathion and corn syrup is released in droplets too large to inhale. Its toxicity is equivalent to that of laundry detergent, officials say.

Cover cars parked outside. The mixture may cause blemishes or discoloration to the finish or paint of some cars.

Keep dogs, cats and other pets in garages or under cover.

Shallow back-yard fish ponds should be covered. Officials say pool owners should not worry because the pesticide will not significantly affect the water quality in a standard-size pool.

ABOUT THE SPRAYING:

The tiny droplets to be sprayed in North County are from a mixture that is about three-quarters protein-corn syrup bait, to lure the fruit flies, and one-quarter malathion, the pesticide being used to kill them. About 12 ounces per square mile will be applied over the target area.

Although the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered new tests of malathion to try to resolve questions about its effect on human health, state officials assert that it is “one of the safest insecticides in use today.” State officials say that the low doses used in aerial spraying pose no health threat to anyone exposed--including pregnant women, infants, children, the elderly and the chronically ill. They also say that no one should have any reservations about going outside after the spraying is completed. Animals--with the exception of fish, which are considered very susceptible--should not be affected either, officials say.

AFTER THE SPRAYING:

The next morning, all patio furniture, play equipment, tools and household items left outdoors during the spraying should be hosed down. If a car has been sprayed, it should be washed with soap and water afterward.

Source: State and Orange County agriculture officials