Court cases shut down aerial spraying
By Paul Rovella
Lombardo and Gilles
Since February 2007, 11 counties in California have been deemed
infested by the light brown apple moth, an exotic pest that has the
potential to destroy entire individual fruit and nut crops. Despite
the threat to California’s agricultural industry, two court cases
in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties have halted the California
Department of Food and Agriculture’s eradication program until the
environmental effects of the program have been studied.
Court cases shut down aerial spraying
By Paul Rovella
Lombardo and Gilles
Since February 2007, 11 counties in California have been deemed infested by the light brown apple moth, an exotic pest that has the potential to destroy entire individual fruit and nut crops. Despite the threat to California’s agricultural industry, two court cases in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties have halted the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s eradication program until the environmental effects of the program have been studied.
The Monterey County court ruled May 12 that California’s Agricultural Secretary A.G. Kawamura must first conduct an Environment Impact Report (EIR) before continuing aerial spraying over California counties. A Santa Cruz County court similarly ruled April 24 that the moth did not pose an immediate threat to California agriculture, so aerial spraying of CheckMate, a pheromone-based pesticide, was halted until the CDFA conducts an EIR. These cases have brought this small insect to the forefront of the constant tension between California’s agriculture industry and environmental interests.
Light brown apple moth is an insect native to Australia. It has also been established in New Zealand and is found in Hawaii, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and New Caledonia. It likes climates found in Central California and the Bay Area.
Its presence was initially confirmed in Berkeley in February 2007. Since then, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has reported moth infestations in several of California’s costal counties, including Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, and Sonoma. The total infestation currently covers more than 760 square miles, according to the CDFA.
As a larva, the moth can damage more than 250 types of fruit and vegetable crops and 2,000 species of plants and trees. Grapes, peaches, citrus fruits, cherries, plums, apricots, apples, avocados, walnuts, and strawberries are examples of crops that are vulnerable. The moth will also damage trees such as pine, cypress, and oak, in addition to virtually any ornamental plant that may be found in residential gardens or yards. APHIS authorities believe that “[b]ased on reports from New Zealand, a 5-20 percent crop loss is not uncommon.” The moth could cause $685 million to $2.7 billion annually in losses.
The moth’s presence has also hindered trade with Mexico and Canada. They have inspection restrictions on plants and crops grown in the eleven California counties with infestations in the hope of preventing the spread of to their countries.
Until recently, California sprayed pheromones over infested areas to confuse the pest and disrupt its mating cycle. Naturally occurring pheromones are not used by the moth for self defense. In their natural state, pheromones are not harmful to the moth population or to any person, animal, plant or crop. Pheromones are chemical signals used by female moths to attract mating partners.
Scientists have developed synthetic chemical signals, such as Checkmate LBAM-F, which have the same basic chemical makeup as the naturally occurring pheromones. They are used to inundate the naturally occurring pheromone signals and confuse the moths. In theory, the overabundance of pheromones would prevent the moth from reproducing and cause the pest to live out the remainder of its nature life cycle without being able to mate.
Since the moth spends most of its life in trees, the CDFA has determined that aerial spraying is the most effective application method.
APHIS experts have concluded that “[c]omprehensive studies show that the pheromone used for light brown apple moths does not pose any health risks to any creature. Humans, mammals and other organisms cannot detect the insect pheromones, even though the pheromones are actually present in our environment every day.”
The aerial application of pheromones has been endorsed as acceptable by several regional, state, federal, and international agencies, including the United States Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Department of Public Health as well as other agencies. Despite these endorsements and in light of the recent court cases in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties, the CDFA cancelled its aerial spraying program over and around urban areas.
Beginning in 2009, the CDFA will use ground-based pheromone applications in conjunction with sterile moth releases to eliminate the moth in and around urbanized areas. This new eradication program is based in part on successful past programs used to eradicate Mediterranean and Mexican fruit fly infestations.
This column is the work product of Lombardo & Gilles, LLP, which has offices in Hollister and Salinas. Paul Rovella is a lawyer with Lombardo & Gilles, LLP, specializing in agribusiness matters and can be reached at 888-757-2444 or [email protected]. Mail your questions to Paul Rovella, It’s the Law, c/o The Pinnacle, 380 San Benito St., Hollister, CA 95023 or contact Paul at 888-757-2444 or [email protected].
