Torres Opts for ‘Insects Over Poison,’ Unveils 2 Anti-Malathion Bills

The first major political attack against the state’s policy of aerial pesticide spraying to control the Medfly was launched in Los Angeles Tuesday by state Sen. Art Torres, who introduced two bills that would bring an immediate halt to the use of malathion in urban areas.

Torres’ bills, which will almost certainly face stiff opposition from the influential agriculture lobby, were presented at a rally at Huntington Drive Elementary School, where 100 supporters cheered as the Los Angeles Democrat lambasted Republican Gov. George Deukmejian and other state officials for their “incompetence” and “senseless” backing of aerial spraying.

“Their attitude has been spray today and ask questions later,” Torres said. “This repeated spraying is simply unacceptable. . . . Toxic chemicals should not be part of our lives.”

The bills would ban repeated aerial pesticide spraying and require proof from state agencies, in the form of detailed studies and assessments, that any pesticide used will be effective in eradicating the Medfly and not endanger the public or the environment.

Together, the measures would effectively stop the state’s current aerial spraying program, Torres said.

The bills also call for a full environmental review of any future state eradication efforts, public notice before any pesticide application and an ongoing health monitoring program.

State health and agriculture officials have maintained that malathion spraying is one of the safest and most effective ways to wipe out the pesky Mediterranean fruit fly, which has infested 372 square miles of Los Angeles and Orange counties.

But Torres said continuing questions about the pesticide’s safety from the public demand an end to spraying, even if it means living with the Medfly forever.

“I can live with insects over poison,” he said.

Opponents of the spraying cheered the measures as a sign of the building political momentum to stop the aerial assault against the Medfly.

“I think it’s great; he’s taken a stand where so far no one else has,” said Michael Bell, a coordinator of the citizens group, Safe Alternatives to Fruit Fly Eradication (SAFE). “It better pass.”

But Isi Siddiqui, assistant director of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, said the bills are simply “political rhetoric” aimed at placating voters and not dealing rationally or scientifically with the current infestation.

Siddiqui, who is in charge of the eradication effort, said malathion is safe in the minute doses used and is by far the most effective means of destroying the Medfly.

If the state were prohibited from using the pesticide, the current infestation could blossom into a statewide disaster that could cost billions of dollars in crop damage and lost jobs, officials say.

“It will present an extreme danger to the fruit industry and the California environment,” Siddiqui said.

He added that, if urban spraying is stopped, more pesticides, not less, will have to be used on crops in rural areas to stop the fly.

The bills also face a formidable challenge in the Legislature that may make the measures nothing more than wishful thinking.

Mike Durando, president of the Fresno-based California Grape and Tree Fruit League, promised an aggressive campaign by growers to stop the legislation.

“There is no way it is going to get through,” he said.

An example of agriculture’s might is a bill rural legislators pushed through in 1985 that scrapped environmental impact reports on all pesticide spraying and limited legal challenges to aerial spraying programs.

Ruben S. Ayala (D-Chino), chairman of the state Senate Agriculture Committee, also predicted tough going for Torres’ bills.

Legislation “as extreme as this isn’t going to make it through,” he said. “Let’s face it. Even if they cleared both houses, the governor would just veto.”

Torres agreed the bills face an uphill battle, but he said he believed the political tide is beginning to turn against the spraying.

Demonstrations have been held for the last two weeks in Los Angeles County, and a growing number of cities--such as Norwalk, Monterey Park, Huntington Beach and Garden Grove--have passed resolutions denouncing the aerial spraying.

Torres said it will probably take about two months for the bills’ fate to be decided. The bills are being submitted as emergency measures that would allow them to be implemented immediately if approved.

TONIGHT’S SPRAYING MAP: B2