LOS ALAMITOS : Malathion Copters Invited to Stay Out

The city plans to notify state officials that malathion-spraying helicopters are not welcome at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

This week, the City Council asked that letters be sent to the governor and the state Department of Food and Agriculture asking that the reserve center not be considered as a base for the helicopters used in the eradication of the Mediterranean fruit fly.

Mostly because of the noise the helicopters would generate, Councilman Anthony R. Selvaggi said that “the letters we send should indicate we . . . are in strong opposition to any such basing.”

The action was spurred by a letter from Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress) informing the council that the reserve center was one of several sites the state was considering.

On Tuesday the airfield operations officer, Capt. Carl Allen, said he is not aware of any plans to station the helicopters at the airfield. However, he would not say whether airfield officials would oppose such a move in the future.

He also said the reserve center is bound by an environmental impact statement that restricts flights after 10 p.m., which would be in conflict with the state’s malathion program.

In a letter sent to Allen, Department of Food and Agriculture Director Henry J. Voss said the state “has not ruled out the Los Alamitos airfield since their base is located in a less-populated area” than other potential sites.

“I think we also need to correct in our letters their misinformation that we are in a ‘less populated’ area,” Selvaggi said.

On May 22, a judge refused to grant the state a temporary restraining order that would have forced the city of Fullerton to open its airport to the helicopters, which ended up flying out of Riverside County.