One hundred twenty community members and experts gathered Monday night, June 23rd at Oakland’s Lakeside Park Garden Center to assess the State’s announced change in strategies for fighting the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
On June 20th California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)announced they would drop plans to aerially spray pesticides over urban areas, but that they were continuing their quest to eradicate LBAM. The Town Hall, planned before the CDFA announcement, celebrated the decision and the grassroots victory in stopping aerial spraying over cities. The event also spotlighted next steps to stop the State’s continued misuse of pesticides.
John Russo, an organic farmer from Carmel Valley, founder of Stop the Spray and of the on-line petition that has logged more than 30,800 signatures opposing the spray, commented, “This is anextraordinary example how people can come together, get involved, and make a difference. This is a victory for the rights of people not to be sprayed against their will, and we need to look at ballotinitiatives and other legislative measures to make sure this never happens again."
Assemblymember Sandré Swanson (D-Oakland) introduced AB 2892 to ban all aerial pesticidespraying in urban areas without public consent. His Communications Director, Douglas MacLean, spoke on his behalf, “This decision to halt the spraying had everything to do with public outcry againsta program that could endanger their health and safety. People from my district and throughout the spray zone made it clear they did not want any part of an aerial spraying program taking place in theircommunity without their informed consent. While this aerial program has been halted, the Light Brown Apple Moth will not be the last invasive pest that California faces. It is incumbent upon theState to create transparent procedures to handle these pests in a way that won’t endanger the public’s health.”
John Russo, Oakland City Attorney, has been leading a coalition of Bay Area cities working onlegal action to stop the aerial spraying of the Bay Area. City Attorney Russo had long called for a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and following the CDFA announcement, he commented, “After thecourt decisions in Santa Cruz and Monterey, the State’s plan to spray an untested chemical over our homes, businesses and schools without a proper environmental review was all but over.” He added, “We will continue to monitor the Agriculture Department’s plans and we will be prepared to step in should the State again attempt an aerial spray program without a complete EIR.”
Looking to the future, panelists discussed the state’s continuation of the LBAM eradication program even though scientists say the moth poses little or no threat and has already been in California for decades.
Stop the Spray East Bay, which sponsored the Town Hall along with Pesticide Watch, renewed calls for LBAM to be reclassified by the United States Department of Agriculture so that it is no longer the subject of eradication activities that endanger human and environmental health.
Town Hall panelists noted that the state has not released details of its new eradication plans aside from press conference statements last week that aerial spraying would continue in areas considered inaccessible to ground treatments, and that ground spraying and other treatments toeradicate LBAM would also continue.
Participants also noted that on June 18th, CDFA filed an intent to appeal the Santa Cruz and Monterey court decisions from earlier this year that required that anEnvironmental Impact Report be prepared before LBAM aerial spraying resumed. The notice of intent to appeal suggests that the State seeks to continue the LBAM program as an emergency program, withoutperforming any environmental review.
Daniel Harder, Ph.D., Executive Director, University of California at Santa Cruz Arboretum, stated, “The pressure is off urban centers but this announcement will not protect vast forested areas, rural and agricultural regions and animal and human populations from aerial spraying. Depending on wherethe aerial spraying occurs, there is potential for drift over residential areas. I sincerely hope support for continuing to fight this wasteful and ineffective program remains strong from our cities.”
Town Hall panelists also advised participants to pay close attention to the harmful ground treatments that are still part of the CDFA “eradication toolbox.” One pesticide that CDFA has said will beused to combat LBAM is permethrin. Panelist and pesticide researcher Caroline Cox, Research Director at the Center for Environmental Health in Oakland, has written on the risks of permethrin andcommented, “This pesticide is toxic to bees and other beneficial insects; can be lethal to cats; and we have found children are far more sensitive to it than adults.”
Dr. Harder urged that going forward, “We need to continue to critique every aspect of this now very diverse yet completely ineffective program.”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 19, 2008
MEDIA CONTACT:
John Russo, StopTheSpray.ORG
(831) 440-8935
john@stopthespray.org
Statewide Grassroots Movement Victorious in Stopping the Spray
California Department of Food and Agriculture Backs-off Plan to Aerially Spray Millions of People with Pesticides
June 19, 2008 – Carmel Valley, California. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) announced today a fundamental change of heart concerning the campaign to eradicate the Light-Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
In a conference call with environmental and citizen groups, Secretary A. G. Kawamura confirmed that aerial spraying of pesticides is off the table in all urban areas. He went on to say that this includes all areas that are accessible by road: If there are roads, CDFA considers it an urban area.
Says John Russo, founder of StopTheSpray.ORG: “The research, websites, community outreach, lawsuits, and lobbying done by thousands of ordinary citizens from Pacific Grove to Sonoma created the pressure that made this possible. This is an extraodinary example how people can come together, get involved, and make a difference. A significant threat to ourselves and our environment has been eliminated.”
After aerial spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties last fall resulted in hundreds of health complaints and environmental damage, the groundswell of public outcry against the moth spraying has grown steadily.
“This success is a major inspiration for us all to fight against other chemical trespasses and spray programs by the state and private industry” says Russo. “Together, we can do it.”
About Stop The Spray
Stop The Spray (www.stopthespray.org) is a grass-roots movement that was founded by John Russo in October of 2007, as a public response to massive aerial sprayings of thousands of people on the Monterey Peninsula. The focus of the movement is on the people’s right to information and the demand for their consent prior to any spraying program that directly exposes their bodies to toxins. As of June 19 th, 2008 the petition started by Stop The Spray has been signed by 29,211 people. Stop The Spray has organizations throughout the entire Bay Area, East Bay, San Mateo, and Marin.
StopTheSpray.org is currently evaluating ballot initiatives and other measures necessary to curtail the power of the Department of Food and Agriculture to endanger the health and human rights of people in California. To view or sign the online petition opposing pesticide spraying without consent and to read more about the issue please visit: www.stopthespray.org
Proposed Legislation
AB 2763 (Laird - D) Requires the Department of Food and Agriculture to create a list of invasive animals, plants, and insects that have a reasonable likelihood of entering California for which an eradication program might be appropriate, and hold public hearings on this information.
AB 2765 (Huffman - D) sets new limits on the emergency powers of the Department of Agriculture. The bill requires a public hearing to receive testimony and examine alternatives to aerial spraying prior to any decision to spray.
AB 2760 (Leno - D) would require that an Environmental Impact Report be completed before the CDFA can apply pesticide in an urban area for the eradication of the light brown apple moth.
About Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM)
The Light-brown Apple Moth (LBAM) was officially discovered in California in 2007 although it may have been in residence in the state for up to 30 years. The CDFA declared an administrative emergency, established quarantine zones and launched a multi-million dollar eradication program. The eradication program, which includes residential and urban areas, is at least in part motivated by international trade issues. Of particular concern is that the chemicals used have never been tested for use on humans and have never before been applied on such a large scale and over human populations. Long-term effects on human health and the environment are unknown and highly controversial, and over 640 health complaints have been identified. The CDFA aerial spray campaign is scheduled to resume and expand into the larger Bay Area in the summer of 2008 with monthly applications until the total eradication of the moth –deemed impossible by most experts –until at least 2010.
