Pay Up for Fire Ant Battle

Orange County supervisors and the county pest control agency are doing their part in the fight against the red imported fire ant. But come mid-February, others will have to pick up some of the costs. The state, which originally funded the project, should bring back at least partial funding, but homeowner associations in Orange County, which create an ideal environment for the ants, also should chip in.

Until recently, when its actions were questioned by the state, the county Vector Control District took on outside pest eradication contracts, had county employees work on those contracts during county time, then paid them bonuses for doing the outside work -- even though they already were paid for that time by taxpayers. This double-dipping was troubling, especially in tight budget times. A spokesman rightly said last month that the agency could not cry poverty while it was making a good business out of being a public agency. The district made up for that mistake by putting $80,000 in bonus money into the pot for fighting the fire ant.

Meanwhile, the county has been paying the costs of the fire ant battle bit by bit since the state cut off its $2-million annual funding several months ago. The latest round of money will see the program through to Feb. 18. But the county can’t keep this going itself while it faces enormous demands for health care and other vital services.

At that point, the state and surrounding counties should step in with some money. The fire ant isn’t just an Orange County problem. As Texas, where the ants are entrenched, warned California five years ago, the fire ant can be an economically and environmentally disastrous pest, chewing up everything from crops to electric wiring to the eggs of endangered birds and reptiles. The county has been so successful at fighting the ant -- using a growth regulator to sterilize the queens and a metabolic inhibitor to keep the ants from digesting their food -- that officials from Texas and overseas have come to see how the county does it.

But private groups, most notably homeowner associations, have the biggest stake in this fight and should contribute to the effort. The ants love citrus and strawberries, which means that agriculture both within the county and regionally has a stake in controlling them. But the remaining nests in Orange County -- and there are thousands of them -- are largely located in the lushly watered common areas in and around housing developments. After cultivating the perfect home for the pests, homeowner groups should take some responsibility for ridding the county of them. Besides, who wants their community known as the neighborhood hot spot for red fire ants and the fierce bites the little pests can deliver?