Cathedral to Offer Refuge in Sprayings : Malathion: Anaheim facility run by Rev. Schuller will house homeless during aerial pesticide applications.

The Crystal Cathedral has agreed to provide a haven where the homeless can take refuge during aerial malathion spraying, Orange County Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder announced at a news conference this morning.

Wieder then used the forum to lash out at Gov. George Deukmejian and the state Department of Food and Agriculture for what she called their bureaucratic insensitivity to public fears raised by the state’s pesticide program to combat the Mediterranean fruit fly.

“While we do have an answer to how do we handle the homeless while the spraying is going on,” Wieider said, the controversy “really reflects poor planning on the part of the governor and on the part of the Department of Food and Agriculture.”

Under the agreement announced by Wieder, the Rev. Robert Schuller, pastor of the Crystal Cathedral, will put up the homeless in a facility in Anaheim where his “Hour of Power” service was once broadcast. The county will provide cots and blankets for the homeless who will be permitted to stay overnight Thursday when the Garden Grove area is scheduled for another aerial application of the pesticide.

The homeless will be picked up in vans provided by the Orange County Homeless Task Force at gathering sites throughout the area. Those include Pioneer Park in Garden Grove, the corner of Bristol and Fairview streets in Santa Ana, Hart Park in Anaheim and a still-to-be-identified church in Huntington Beach.

The state, Wieder said, has agreed to provide three trained social workers to staff the overnight shelter. The homeless will be shuttled to the shelter at 5 p.m. Thursday and returned to the gathering points by 7:30 the next morning, a homeless task force representative at the news conference said.

Wieder said the state has agreed to help with future arrangements for any future malathion spraying in the area. “They finally are listening and trying to be reasonable,” Wieder said.

At the board’s regular meeting this morning, county agricultural officials announced that the Department of Food and Agriculture will hold a hearing on the malathion spraying program March 19 in the county Hall of Administration in Santa Ana.

Both Wieder and Supervisor Roger R. Stanton questioned the efficacy of such a hearing. Stanton noted that the sponsor was “not exactly a neutral party.” Said Wieder: “I think it’s a lot of spinning of wheels to justify their action.”

As they have done since last November, county supervisors renewed by a 3-2 vote a proclamation declaring a local emergency in the battle against the infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly. Supervisors supporting the declaration argue that the local state of emergency is needed to protect the county against possible massive lawsuits that could arise out of the spraying.