Feb 26, 2008 6:53 pm US/Pacific
Outrage Over Planned Bay Area Apple Moth Spraying
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP) ―
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The Light Brown Apple Moth.
University of Kentucky
At public hearings in San Francisco and Oakland on Monday and Tuesday, government officials received an earful from the public over planned chemical mist spraying for the light brown apple moth.
In August, the California Department of Food and Agriculture plans to spray pesticides in five Bay Area counties for the invasive species. The opposition has been sparked after 600 people in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties reported illnesses after apple moth spraying took place there last year.
Meantime, state Assemblyman John Laird said he wants to make sure California is ready the next time it confronts an invasive pest.
He said the state has been ill prepared to handle the light brown apple moth. The insect threatens more than 2,000 varieties of plants, including crops, trees and endangered species.
Laird, D-Santa Cruz, introduced legislation last week that would force the department to create a list of potential invasive species and how they can be eradicated. The agriculture department would have to explain what pesticide would be used and how it would be applied.
The bill is one of four that Assembly Democrats recently revealed to deal with pesticides.
Legislation proposed by Assemblywoman Loni Hancock of Berkeley would prohibit the agriculture department from approving pesticide use in urban areas unless the governor has declared a state of emergency.
Another measure from Assemblyman Jared Huffman of San Rafael would restrict the department's emergency powers. And a measure authored by Assemblyman Mark Leno of San Francisco would require an environmental impact report before pesticides targeting the light brown apple moth are used in an urban area.
The cities to be sprayed this summer in the Bay Area include:
Alameda County: Albany
Alameda
Piedmont
Emeryville
Oakland
Contra Costa County: El Cerrito
El Sobrante
Hercules
Kensington
Pinole-N. Richmond
San Pablo
San Francisco County:San Francisco
San Mateo County: Daly City
Colma
Pacifica
San Bruno
South San Francisco
Marin County: Tiburon
Belvedere
San Pablo
Corte Madera
Larkspur
Sausalito
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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