State’s Medfly Action Angers Supervisor : Agriculture: Roger R. Stanton says malathion could be sprayed in Orange County “anywhere, at any time” if the area is made a permanent fruit fly eradication zone.

Supervisor Roger R. Stanton charged Tuesday that the state’s move to designate all of Orange County a permanent Mediterranean fruit fly eradication zone could turn the county into an “experimental facility” where malathion could be sprayed “anywhere, any time, for any reason.”

Stanton, a leading critic of aerial pesticide spraying, urged the other four supervisors to protest the proposed designation rather than vote to extend a proclamation declaring the Medfly infestation an emergency.

But the local declaration was extended for another two weeks on a 3-2 vote, with board Chairman Don R. Roth saying, “I am going to continue (it) for one more time. . . .” Stanton and Supervisor Harriett M. Wieder voted against renewing the emergency proclamation. The board has faced the issue every two weeks since November.

The state Department of Food and Agriculture announced Monday it intended to end the aerial spraying in Southern California on May 9, a month earlier than expected.

Stanton claimed that the state, without the approval of the county, has sprayed seven or eight tons of malathion since two Medflies were discovered in his 1st District, which includes much of the county’s spray area.

“It seems more appropriate to convey to the state our objection to Orange County being declared a permanent Medfly eradication area. . . .” Stanton said. “The intent of the state Department of (Food and) Agriculture, which, if it has been interpreted to me correctly, means they could spray anywhere, at any time, for any reason.

“It seems to me that rather than continue to declare an emergency for those two flies that were found, we ought to be telling the state we don’t want our county to be set up as an experimental facility to be sprayed whenever they want to,” Stanton said.

Under the designation, the state could do limited ground spraying or release sterile Medflies anywhere in the county where a so-called wild Medfly is discovered. This could be done without the governor declaring a state of emergency, according to Natalie Bosecker, a spokeswoman for the state Medfly Project.

“But it’s not going to happen unless a wild fly is found,” she said. “I don’t know why he (Stanton) thinks we would just be spraying. The only time we would spray is if a wild fly was found, and hopefully that won’t happen.”

Bill Callison of the Department of Food and Agriculture said that before the county is officially designated a permanent eradication zone, testimony from Monday’s public hearing in Santa Ana will be reviewed by the hearing officer and a recommendation will be sent to Henry J. Voss, director of the Department of Food and Agriculture.

If Voss approves the designation, the change goes to the state Office of Administrative Law and finally to the secretary of state to be filed as an official amendment to the existing state Food and Agriculture Code.

Callison said that even with the permanent-eradication-zone designation, an emergency declaration would be needed to conduct aerial spraying. He said permanent designations are reviewed periodically and removed from the code if not needed.

Agriculture officials said the designation is needed in Orange County because infested fruit may have been moved from the designated spraying areas around Brea, La Habra and Garden Grove.

If so designated, Orange County would join Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Bernardino counties as a permanent eradication zone.

Roth is becoming increasingly irritated with the state law that requires the county to renew its local emergency declaration every two weeks while Gov. George Deukmejian only had to make the declaration once.

In a letter to Roth, Deukmejian said other government jurisdictions faced with the same review requirement apparently have used a less formal process than has Orange County.

The governor’s letter, which was written in response to Roth’s concerns, said, “I suggest that you contact those other affected jurisdictions to discuss the approaches they have employed.” The letter gave no specifics.

Roth ordered county lawyers and officials in charge of county emergencies to report back in one week on how other counties have been handling the Medfly crisis.