Northern
California Cities
Scheduled to be
Sprayed
with Pesticides
starting August 2008
...and every
30-90 days for two to ten years!
The
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) plans to continue carry out
a USDA-funded program to eradicate the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM), an insect
which has been here for decades without creating any crop damage! Independent
scientists say that the moth is not an emergency, but the plan to eradicate it
is!
It's
not Safe!
- The spray contains chemicals known
to cause cancer, mutations and hormone disruption.
-
After Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties were sprayed in fall 2007, over 640 people
reported health complaints!
It's
not Effective!
- Scientists
say the moth has been here too long and is too widespread to be eradicated.
- The LBAM Eradication
Program is attempting to eradicate the moth with a set of tools designed only
to limit its spread.
It's
not Necessary!
- The LBAM has been in New Zealand for 100 years; it is successfully
controlled there almost exclusively by insect predators.
- After decades in California, the LBAM has created no documented
damage to crops or natural areas.
Learn More:
---------------------------
Why
does the State of California want to eradicate the LBAM?
The Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) has been declared a
"Class A" pest which requires eradication by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA), despite convincing evidence that it does little damage to crops or other
plants.
It's not too late for the USDA to reclassify the LBAM based on
evidence now available that it was misclassified.
Learn
more and take action.
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Will the
CDFA's LBAM Eradication Plan work?
Scientists
have concluded that the plan has a 0% likelihood of eradicating the LBAM, in part
because it is already an established population in California.
Learn
more.
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What is in the spray?
CheckMate,
which was sprayed on Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties, is a pesticide concoction
that includes a synthetic chemical designed to mimic the moth pheromone. Some
of the other ingredients have been found to cause cancer, mutations, and hormone
disruption.
Learn
more.
This chemical cocktail is encased in plastic microcapsules
small enough to lodge deep in our lungs. The capsules are designed to time-release
the chemicals, so the danger remains long after the planes have landed.
More
info about particle size.
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) has said that they haven't
decided yet what pesticides they plan to spray on our communities next!
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Is it safe?
Spraying
of this chemical cocktail already happened in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties
last fall. Thousands of people were sickened by the spray, and some remain ill.
Community members issued a report documenting 643 reports of symptoms.
For more information, read the
health report and also the report on effects
on animals following the spraying in Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties.
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Isn't the spray
natural?
No. The California Department of
Food and Agriculture calls the spray "pheromone application." However, there is
not one drop of natural moth pheromone in the spray. It does contain, along with
other chemicals, a synthetic chemical reportedly formulated to mimic LBAM pheromone.
The spray is an experimental chemical cocktail encased in plastic microcapsules
small enough to lodge deep in our lungs. The capsules are designed to time-release
the chemicals, so the danger remains long after the planes have landed.
Read more info here
and here.
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Isn't it necessary?
The LBAM is successfully managed in New Zealand without
the use of pesticides. For more details, read The
New Zealand Report on IPM Management of LBAM.
Scientists
estimate that the LBAM has been in California for decades, and no crop damage
has been documented. If it's not a problem, maybe it doesn't need to be 'solved'
at all!
Learn more: Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) 101 http://cassonline.org/docs/LBAM101.pdf
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With all the environmental
protections we have in CA, how can the government do this?
The
requirement for an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was bypassed when the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) instituted a State of Emergency. Now
Superior Court judges in both Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties have ruled that
there is no emergency, and that an EIR must be completed before spraying continues.
Learn more: http://www.lbamspray.com/Court%20Cases.htm
In
other words, the aerial spraying conducted on Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties
in fall 2007 was enabled by a declaration of a false state of emergency. This
false state of emergency still stands in all other California counties and must
be challenged immediately.
The
California Alliance to Stop the Spray (CASS) believes that the laws already in
place, including both the U.S. and California Constitutions, should be sufficient
to protect Californians from the CDFA's LBAM eradication program, but that those
laws are not being followed. A list of laws being violated by this program can
be found here.
This is excerpted from the report, Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) Economic Impacts
and Solutions. Read the report. http://cassonline.org/docs/CASS-EconReport.pdf
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Won't the LBAM cause major economic damage in California if
we don't stop it?
The LBAM has been here for
decades, and to date there has been NO documented crop damage. The California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) used faulty
crop damage projections that inflated the estimated costs to the state from
the moth.
On the other hand, the LBAM Eradication Program itself poses
a significant economic threat to the San Francisco and Monterey Bay Areas, as
detailed in CASS's new report, "Economic
Impacts and Solutions". According to our report, negative economic impacts
to the tourism industry, property values and organic farming could be vast.
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What are "ground spraying," "sticky traps," "twist ties" and
"stingless wasps?"
The Light Brown Apple Moth Eradication Program developed by the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) includes not only aerial
spraying but also "ground applications" of pesticides including on private property
including:
--Application of a toxic goo to trees and telephone poles
on public and private property--3,000 per square mile!
--"Twist Ties"are
large wire hangers infused with pesticides and hung from trees on public and private
property, 30-40 per city lot, within reach of climbing children and animals. See
photo.
--"Sticky Traps" contain chemicals including the synthetic
moth pheromone, and are being used both to catch moths for counting and as part
of the ill-advised eradication program. One of the many problems with these traps
is that they also trap and kill other insects, including honeybees, which are
already declining in number at an alarming rate due to Colony Collapse Disorder,
which may be a result of pesticides. See
photo.
--Release of millions of parasitic wasps that the CDFA calls
"stingless wasps." Forty-two million wasps will be released in Santa Cruz/Monterey
area and 10 million in San Francisco.
Learn more here
and here.
View the CDFA's
Light Brown Apple Moth Eradication Program description.
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Is my home, my workplace, my child's school in the area where
spraying is planned?
Click here
for a list of targeted communities.
Click here
for the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) map.
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There aren't
any apple trees where I live. Why are they spraying cities?
That's
a really good question. The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA)
says they're spraying cities because that's where they've found LBAM and that
they're trying to prevent the spread of the moth. Does the LBAM prefer cities?
We won't know until the CDFA publicly releases not just the list of where they've
found the moth, but also where they've looked for it and didn't find it. More
info? Nope. The CDFA refuses to disclose this information to the public.
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Are they spraying for that moth that is eating my Oak tree?
No. The oak moth is not the same as the LBAM
and is not targeted for eradication.
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Didn't the governor put a stop to this?
No,
he didn't. Governor Schwarzenegger only delayed spraying in the Bay Area until
August 17 (spraying had previously been announced to begin in Bay Area counties
August 1). Though the Governor said that this delay was so that studies could
be done of the health effects of the spray, only short-term health effects can
be studied in this time frame. Long term and cumulative health effects are also
of grave concern. Additionally, he has made it clear that he intends for the spraying
to begin August 17, which indicates that he has already determined what the outcome
of these studies will be. And the California Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) has said that they have not yet determined what product they will use for
the spraying they plan to begin in August. Are all of the products under consideration
being tested? We don't know.
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What can we do?
Public opposition
has so far achieved delays in the program and is the only thing that can stop
it. This opposition takes many forms, ranging from letters to the editor to court
challenges. Groups have formed to put an end to this dangerous toxic program.
All that's missing is YOUR participation!
Check the sidebar on the left
for ways you can get involved, and the sidebar on the right to find a group in
your area.
CASS's new economic
report provides a road map for getting us out of the current situation.
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If we don't stop this moth now, aren't they just going to spray
us with worse stuff?
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture (USDA) has threatened to spray with organophosphates if they are not
able to continue the current spraying program. In New Zealand, the only time the
LBAM became a problem is when organophosphates were used! The LBAM is not a problem
in California, so eradicating it with organophosphates would be completely inappropriate,
just like the current program.
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Who pays you guys at CASS?
California Alliance to Stop the Spray is a non-profit organization
made up of people like you who are volunteering our time. We welcome your tax-deductible
donations
to support our work.
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Are these chemicals harmful to animals?
Yes!
CheckMate, which was sprayed on Monterey and Santa Cruz Counties in Fall 2007,
is especially toxic to marine life, yet the runoff of the spray washed into Monterey
Bay! All of the treatment modalities planned and underway by the CDFA are harmful
to animal life including pets and wildlife. More
info.
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How can I get updates on
the situation?
Join
the California Alliance To Stop the Spray (CASS) email
list.
Also go to the right sidebar on this website to find the group
closest to your area, and join their email list as well.
The California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) allows people to sign up for their email
alerts. You can do that here http://phpps.cdfa.ca.gov/notification/signup2.aspx.
However, we have received many reports that people who sign up for this list are
not notified of events that affect their geographical area.
Dont Spray
Us
DontSprayus.com
