Countywide : 5th Malathion Spraying Protested

A dozen residents of north Orange County gathered Monday evening to protest the fifth round of malathion spraying over their area. The protesters assembled at the corner of Brea Boulevard and Imperial Highway around 5:30 p.m. and demonstrated for about 45 minutes before cold caused them to leave. Some drivers passing the intersection honked in support.

Wayne Appel, deputy agriculture commissioner for Orange County, said about 70 square miles in Los Angeles and Orange counties were scheduled to be sprayed Monday night. Only 10 of those miles were in Orange County, most in Brea.

Malathion spraying in Brea began last November after a pregnant Medfly was found in a guava tree.

“We’re getting tired of the spraying,” said Eleanor Di Lalla, 54, of Fullerton. Her son, who stood next to her holding a picket sign, agreed.

“This is getting a little ridiculous,” said Mark Di Lalla, 25, a communications student at Cal State Fullerton. “They have to try something else.”

Alice Broussard, 43, a bookkeeper from La Habra, said that the malathion spraying had prompted her to organize a panel of medical experts to appear Feb. 20 at the La Habra City Council meeting.

She said the state “botched” the eradication program by inadequately testing malathion before spraying the pesticide several times over her neighborhood. “Now, people are letting themselves be heard,” Broussard said. “We’re fighting for our health.”

On Monday, the Arts, Health and Humanities Committee of the Los Angeles City Council joined the growing opposition to aerial malathion spraying by unanimously recommending that the city take legal action against the state to stop the helicopter assault on the Medfly. The three members of the committee said that, despite hours of testimony from state experts, they remain unconvinced that using malathion over populated areas is safe.

The threat of legal action from Los Angeles and environmental groups comes two weeks after the cities of Garden Grove, Huntington Beach and Westminster tried unsuccessfully to stop spraying in their areas. The three Orange County cities were the first in the area to take legal action. A Sacramento Superior Court Judge turned down their request for a temporary restraining order, but the cities are planning to refile the action Thursday.

Barbara Buck, spokeswoman for the Irvine-based Western Growers Assn., said the threat of new lawsuits is a potentially dire turn in the debate over spraying.

“There is the great danger that the public is becoming polarized and it could happen very quickly,” she said. “There are a lot of farmers who can’t believe that people are upset and they are just realizing that they need to become involved.”

Isi Siddiqui, assistant director of the state Department of Food and Agriculture, agreed, saying that if the suits succeed in halting the spraying, the Mediterranean fruit fly could become entrenched in Southern California and eventually spread north to the farm-rich San Joaquin Valley. But he added that the state is confident that it will win any court challenge.