FULLERTON : State to Sue City Over Medfly Copters

The state Department of Justice will sue the city of Fullerton for refusing to allow malathion-spraying helicopters to take off from Fullerton Airport during last year’s battle against the Mediterranean fruit fly.

The state’s action stems from Fullerton’s success last May in blocking efforts to move the helicopters from El Monte Airport to Fullerton Airport during the last phase of the nighttime malathion sprayings. Agreeing with Fullerton, Superior Court Commissioner Julian Cimbaluk ruled that the state did not adequately prove that an emergency existed to warrant use of the airport.

City Atty. R.K. Fox said he doesn’t understand why the state is suing.

“Even though there is no longer a Medfly emergency, and even though the state’s experts have said they can handle the eradication problem with sterile fruit flies, I wonder why they want to waste their money and force us to spend ours to litigate this matter?” Fox said. “I guess maybe it has to do with us beating them. I guess we hurt their pride.”

Last August, the state filed legal documents in Orange County Superior Court requesting Fullerton to allow the state to use the airport. Fullerton on Wednesday answered the complaint, Fox said.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Charles W. Getz IV said the state is ready to go to court and will be filing the lawsuit “shortly.” He said the issue is purely a legal one.

“We want to show once and for all that no city can tell the state it can’t use a state-owned airport,” Getz said. “Just because we have the Medfly situation under control now, doesn’t mean the problem won’t come back. Or, maybe some other emergency.”

Fox said the city fought the state for safety reasons.

“Our response is the same as before, we don’t believe it would be safe to have five or six of these large helicopters flying in and out of here,” Fox said. “Our only concern then and now is safety for our airport, the pilots who use it and the citizens who live around it.”

After Fullerton kept the helicopters out, the city of Los Angeles went to court and did the same thing. The state then moved the helicopter spraying operation to the Riverside Municipal Airport for the last malathion sprayings over Garden Grove and Panorama City.

Getz said similar legal action is also planned against the city of Los Angeles.