LOCAL : Supervisors Urge Halt of Malathion Spraying

Orange County supervisors, struggling for a way to express their opposition to aerial malathion spraying inside the county, unanimously voted today to call on the state to halt the practice.

Under the resolution approved by the supervisors, the board “demands an immediate halt to all aerial pesticide spraying over urban areas.” In addition, the board directed the county’s chief administrative officer to notify “all appropriate governmental authorities” of the county’s opposition.

After months of fragmenting on issues relating to the aerial spraying, today’s action finally represented a move that the entire board could support.

“Here we go again with that pesky thing,” Board Chairman Don R. Roth said wearily when the issue was raised. But he too expressed his opposition to malathion spraying, and he joined his colleagues in approving the proposal.

The resolution, modeled after one recently passed by supervisors in Los Angeles County, stops short of directing the county’s agricultural commissioner not to cooperate with the state-ordered spraying, however. That provision was dropped in response to concerns by some supervisors.

Because the spraying is mandated by the state, the county’s action today cannot bring a halt to it. But Supervisor Roger R. Stanton, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said he hopes that the cumulative effect of city and county governments expressing their opposition to the spraying will eventually cause the state to reconsider.

“Hurling words against a brick wall may not at first seem to make a lot of sense, but we’re hoping it will have an eroding effect,” Stanton said. “It’s important to send this message out that we don’t like this spraying.”