Supervisors to Consider Plan Against Fire Ants

After waiting months for state funding to eradicate fire ants, Orange County supervisors are now poised to approve a plan today to wipe out the insects over a five-year period.

“This is the first comprehensive, wide-scale eradication attempt in the county,” said Rick LeFeuvre, county agricultural commissioner.

Part of the plan calls for spreading a slow-acting sterilization agent in infested areas, as well as launching a public education campaign about the stinging ant, which last year established its first major West Coast colonies in Orange County and portions of Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

In some extremely rare instances, a fire ant’s sting can cause severe allergic reaction or even death to those who already have been stung and sensitized. Severe allergic reaction occurs in 1 in 10,000 cases, according to health experts.

LeFeuvre said the delay in getting state money for the effort was due in part to problems at the state level involving a special funding bill, SB 204, and waiting for the governor’s signature. When the governor finally did sign the bill, he reduced the funding from $9.5 million to $6 million for statewide fire ant eradication measures.

The bill actually provides money only through the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2000.

LeFeuvre, who will oversee the $2.4-million program to be run by the Orange County Vector Control District, is optimistic that future funding will be forthcoming. So far, no money has changed hands and no contracts have been signed, said Robert Sjogren, vector control district manager.

“We’re waiting to see what the funding levels will be,” Sjogren said. “The plan still has to be approved by both the Board of Supervisors and then the state Department of Food and Agriculture.”

Fire ants were discovered last year when more than 40 mounds estimated to contain about 300,000 ants each were discovered in a field and adjacent park in the Robinson Ranch planned community near Trabuco Canyon. State officials have since discovered hundreds of mounds in residential areas of Cypress, Coto de Caza, Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo. They believe the insects have infiltrated 23 of Orange County’s cities and four unincorporated areas. More ants have been found in Cerritos and Hawaiian Gardens in Los Angeles County, and in eight Riverside County communities.

But state agriculture officials believe the colonies began at least four to five years earlier, said Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

“Many people think the ant’s eradication is going to be quick but it will be an ongoing battle with no quick fix,” Hidalgo said. “To say we can do it in a year is not realistic.”

To battle the ants, state agriculture workers have opted for a birth control approach, which takes as long as six weeks to destroy a colony.

The birth control measure works like this: Ground corn cobs soaked in soy oil and laced with an insect growth inhibitor are spread around mounds where the ants live. Worker ants are attracted to the soy oil and carry the corn to the colony. There the workers feast on the corn mixture before passing it on to the queen.

Eventually the corn is served to the queen. It doesn’t kill her, but it sterilizes her eggs, eventually putting an end to the colony.

Orange County requested continuous funding over a five-year period but was denied. Although LeFeuvre is confident the county can secure more funding after June, it’s a sore point with Supervisor Todd Spitzer, whose district has been inundated with fire ant infestation.

He noted that the county took action last February to eradicate the pest in parks and on county-owned property but had to stop when the state failed to reimburse for more than $80,000 in county costs.

After the fire ant infestation was discovered, the state also declared a state of emergency in Orange County and assumed jurisdiction over the eradication efforts, but reneged on the funds, Spitzer said.

A state spokesman said there was never agreement between the state and county on reimbursement, although Spitzer has contended a deputy agriculture commissioner assured the county costs would be reimbursed.

“It’s been frustrating,” Spitzer said. “The county immediately took action but the state didn’t pay up. We were told we would be reimbursed and we weren’t.”

At stake, Spitzer believes, is the health of the state’s $26-billion agricultural and nursery industry, which could be threatened by the tiny invaders.

Local nurseries still are operating under quarantine and must follow state guidelines that call for drenching plants with pesticides for sale and transport outside the county. It’s a “very expensive step” for nursery businesses, Spitzer said.

But Spitzer is more concerned that if the ants aren’t beaten now, more drastic steps such as aerial spraying may be needed.

“It’s a scenario that no one wants,” he said.