Public Relations Weighted Decision to Halt Spraying

The decision by state agriculture officials this week to set a May 9 deadline to end aerial malathion spraying in Southern California was as heavily weighted by public relations considerations as by science, according to officials involved in the decision.

Battered by protests from environmentalists, residents and local politicians, Department of Food and Agriculture officials in charge of eradicating the Mediterranean fruit fly from Los Angeles and Orange counties decided they had to send a loud and clear message to the public that California was winning the war against the Medfly.

“Just saying ‘trust us’ wouldn’t do it,” said Isi Siddiqui, the state’s point man in the eradication program. “We had to show them. . . . It was time for us to make a decision and tell the public the end is in sight. We had to turn this around.”

But, in setting the deadline and choosing to phase out aerial pesticide spraying in favor of eliminating the pest through the release of sterile Medflies, Agriculture Department Director Henry J. Voss was rejecting the recommendation of the state’s scientific advisory panel on the Medfly.

The decision was made Monday at a Sacramento meeting of Voss, Siddiqui, Associate Director Rex Magee and Deputy Director Robert C. Fox. According to Siddiqui and Magee, Siddiqui argued for the deadline and Voss agreed.

Some agriculture officials concede that setting a firm deadline of May 9 is potentially risky. If the strategy fails and the state has to resume spraying, it could further inflame a population angered over repeated malathion sprayings, they say.

Opposition to aerial spraying of malathion has mounted in recent weeks and a number of cities have unsuccessfully brought court actions aimed at halting the spraying. Critics contend the safety of malathion spraying is uncertain while the state contends it is not harmful to people in the small doses used.

Siddiqui said the decision to stop spraying would not have been made so soon if not for a meeting of the state’s scientific advisers a week earlier to review the eradication program’s progress.

To the state’s surprise, the panel of five entomologists recommended that spraying continue, despite the near completion of a second breeding facility in Hawaii that promised an abundant supply of sterile flies to breed the pest out of existence. The scientists were skeptical that the facility could produce enough sterile flies, and they recommended that shipments be held in reserve in case of new outbreaks.

Siddiqui said the recommendation directly contradicted promises the state had been making for months--that spraying would be phased out as soon as possible.

“I told them, ‘The department has made commitments to public officials and the media,’ ” Siddiqui said. “We cannot hold 150 million sterile flies in reserve and say to folks, ‘We’re just going to continue spraying you.’ ”

The scientists, nonetheless, stuck by their recommendation.

“The panel was sending a signal to people that this thing is going to go on and on,” Siddiqui said. “We had to set the record straight. If we didn’t, there would be people saying, ‘You could have used the sterile flies in May.’ ”

Siddiqui said he was forced now to send out an equally strong message to counter the panel’s recommendations.

Some members of the panel, however, had viewed their recommendation as the safest course, both scientifically and politically.

Roy Cunningham, a U.S. Department of Agriculture entomologist in Hawaii and the chairman of the panel, said the recommendation provided Voss with a justification for continued spraying while insulating him against the uncertainties of future sterile Medfly supplies.

“I think Mr. Voss is putting himself into a corner he didn’t need to be in,” Cunningham said. “It’s more or less a political thing. Suppose we commit 200 million steriles to these areas and then production (of the sterile flies) falls? We’re just leaving ourselves open.”

Siddiqui said he felt an immediate and strong response was needed to the panel’s recommendations. He demanded and got a one-hour meeting with Voss on Monday morning.

Voss, who was in Washington Wednesday and not available for comment, was confronted with two issues. One was whether to simply reject the panel’s recommendations and phase in sterile fly releases as soon as practical. The other was whether to attach a firm date to the end of spraying in already infested areas.

The first question was easy to decide, Siddiqui said. The state had always maintained that it would use alternatives to aerial spraying whenever possible.

The eradication program began that way last year with single sprayings followed by the release of sterile flies. But the infestation grew so quickly that the state depleted its supply and had to rely on repeated pesticide spraying.

Now the situation was different. Not only had no new flies been discovered in five weeks, but also adequate numbers of sterile flies were soon expected. Voss, Siddiqui and Magee knew that a second breeding facility in Hawaii was close to completion.

With that information, the decision was clear, Siddiqui said. “How could we explain to the public if we had all these sterile flies but continued spraying?” he asked.

Deciding whether to place a deadline for the end of spraying was a trickier question.

“I didn’t think it was that critical,” said Magee, who thought the state could have waited until April or May before making a final decision.

But Siddiqui argued the state should not just reiterate its vague position that sterile Medflies would be phased in during May or June--a stand that would do little to alleviate criticism. The state had to provide a concrete date, he said.

Siddiqui’s staff calculated that a sufficient number of sterile flies would be on hand by May 9 and that spraying could be discontinued. And Voss agreed to the date.

Siddiqui said additional spraying may be necessary if additional flies are discovered before May 9 in some of the already infested areas and enough sterile flies are not available.

If wild flies are discovered in new areas, sterile flies will be released after a maximum of two malathion sprayings, he said.

But he said the state is confident that the sterile flies will arrive in sufficient quantities and that most areas will soon see their last helicopter sorties.