Forum to Tackle Fire Ant Invasion War

By DEBORAH SCHOCH and NANCY HILL-HOLTZMAN

Jan. 22, 1999 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Confronted with the discovery of fire ants in at least 15 Orange County cities, officials are convening a special forum today in Santa Ana so the public can learn more about the stinging creatures and ways to banish them from gardens, golf courses and lawns.

State officials in charge of the fire ant wars said Thursday that no decision is expected for at least a month on how to combat the insects. One potential weapon is aerial dusting with a chemical to curb the ants’ reproduction, but other approaches also are being studied.

“We want to put forth a plan that’s going to be safe for people, the environment, other animals--and not very safe for the fire ants,” said Oscar Hidalgo, spokesman for the state Department of Food and Agriculture.

Leaders of the county Vector Control District on Thursday voted unanimously in favor of state action to banish the ants, even if that means dusting from the air.

“One of the least harmful and least invasive measures is aerial dusting,” said Laurann Cook, newly elected district board president. The board is urging the county’s 31 cities to ask the state to combat the ant influx.

“We feel the only way the Department of Agriculture is going to take any action on this is if they get pressure from other entities,” Cook said.

The red ants attack in swarms, and their painful stings can cause severe reactions or even death in a small fraction of the population allergic to the ants.

Long a scourge in the South, the arrival of the aggressive fire ants has stirred alarm among scientists and government officials, who fear the ants will wreak havoc with the nursery industry and with the region’s outdoors lifestyle.

Because the ant is new to California, few people know if they are allergic. And state and county officials contacted Thursday knew of no system of tracking how many people in the county have been stung or required medical treatment.

But state health officials are gearing up to create a reporting network to keep track of fire-ant stings, and emergency rooms will be required to report incidents, said Ken August, spokesman for the state Department of Health Services in Sacramento.

Meanwhile, two lawmakers from Orange County have asked the Legislature for an unspecified amount of money to fight the spread of fire ants.

The bill, introduced Wednesday by state Sen. John Lewis of Orange, would allocate extra funds to the state Department of Food and Agriculture to be used to eradicate the ants. Assemblyman Bill Campbell (R-Villa Park) is helping to guide the measure through the Assembly.

Lewis said he is frustrated that agriculture officials have not yet established the extent of the problem, a necessary first step in developing an eradication strategy.

“You run the risk that a good chunk of our outdoor life in Orange County could be gone for forever,” Lewis said.

Experts in health, biology and agriculture will be on hand at today’s session, prompted by the November disclosure that fire ants had invaded the county. Much smaller fire ant populations also have been found in Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

The ants are now known to infest more than 50 square miles in Orange County alone, and more ants have been found in nurseries in Los Angeles and Riverside counties, as well as in a Moreno Valley neighborhood and at two Palm Desert golf courses.

The ants may have been living here as long as five years.

County Supervisor Todd Spitzer said he organized today’s meeting to make sure residents have a role in controlling the insects.

As a state Senate staff member in the 1980s, he said, he was disenchanted with the response of state agriculture officials to community concerns during a Medfly spraying controversy.

A scientific panel convened by the department has outlined three options for dealing with fire ants in the Orange County area: doing nothing, controlling the spread of ants through various measures, or trying to eradicate the colonies by chemically sterilizing the queen ants.

They said the most efficient way of eradicating the ants would be aerial dusting with a sterilizing chemical. But the department has made no decisions, Hidalgo said.

Today’s meeting will be from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Orange County Hall of Administration, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana. People who want more information or suspect their property is infested should call (800) 491-1899.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Unwelcome Visitors

Red imported fire ants have been found in 15 cities and three unincorporated areas in Orange County:

Cities

* Anaheim

* Buena Park

* Cypress

* Huntington Beach

* Irvine

* La Palma

* Laguna Niguel

* Lake Forest