CCC Spreads the Word on Tonight’s Medfly Spraying

About 300 California Conservation Corps members heard it all Wednesday as they tramped through Maywood, Bell and adjoining communities to warn residents of tonight’s aerial spraying of pesticide in an attempt to halt a growing infestation of the Mediterranean fruit fly.

“People are either indifferent or they are really concerned,” said Ray Faust, 20, a CCC member from Moreno Valley.

“One lady, she came across like a biologist: ‘It’s not good for anything, it’s not good for anybody’ ... The people who are indifferent, they don’t say anything.”

By nightfall Wednesay, the khaki-clad CCC youths were to have dropped flyers in English and Spanish at some 70,000 homes and apartments in a 22-square mile aerial spraying zone bounded on the north by Washington Boulevard, on the west by Sante Fe Avenue, on the south by Firestone Boulevard and on the east by Garfield Avenue.

The one-time spraying will begin at 9 p.m. and end by 6 a.m. Friday.

As the youths made their rounds, Los Angeles County Agricultural Commissioner Paul B. Engler announced that county workers trapped two more Medflies on Tuesday, bringing to 36 the number discovered in the county since July 27.

One of flies was found in a monitoring trap in South Gate, outside a 3 1/2-square-mile zone where ground crews had been spraying fruit trees with a mixture of malathion pesticide and Medfly bait. The same mix will be dropped from the helicopters.

“The infestation is still localized, but it’s very serious,” Engler told reporters at his El Monte office. “We have a breeding population probably into the second, third, who knows what generation.”

Engler called the Medfly “probably the world’s most serious food-destroying pest,” because it feeds on more than 260 varieites of produce, reproduces rapidly, and survives in a range of climates.

The relatively diluted dose of malathion (2.4 ounces per acre) to be dropped tonight poses no health threat to humans or pets, Engler said, with the exception of fish kept in outdoor ponds.

Nevertheless, the flyers advised residents to remain indoors while the helicopters are overhead and to wash the mixture of bait and pesticide from their skin if they are exposed to it. In addition, they were urged to cover their cars and trucks, or wash them Friday morning, because malathion can damage vehicle paint.

Despite the assurances, some who live in the area to be sprayed were not completely reassured.

“You never know exactly what they’re spraying and what effect it’s going to have in the long run,” said Sergio Aceytuno, 32, of Bell Avenue, in Bell. He said he is especially worried about the possible effects on his two children.

“Most of the people who are concerned are older,” said CCC member Faust. “This one lady said she and her husband got cancer after the last time they sprayed (during a Mexican fruit fly infestation in 1983).”

Many in the neighborhood said they are not worried about the aerial spraying.

“I think it’s good,” said Dora Chahine, 30, of Nevada Street in Bell, who is the mother of four. “It’s better for us to eradicate the fly ... .”

Added W.T. Wright, 73, another Bell resident: “Catch it when it’s just starting and save a lot of money.”

A statewide Medfly infestation in 1980-81 cost $100 million in crop damage and lost sales, and another $100 million to eradicate, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Residents “really don’t react like it’s something big,” said Tony Chriss, 19, a CCC member from Van Nuys. Another CCC youth said most people who live in the area appeared more concerned about their automobiles than anything else.

The current eradication project is expected to cost more than $800,000, officials said Wednesday, including no more than $25,000 for the aerial spraying. The cost will be shared equally by the California Department of Food and Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

No further aerial spraying is anticipated if the infestation remains in the area currently affected, Engler said. If the infestation spreads, officials may order additional malathion drops in new locations.

Residents with questions about the spraying can call a special hotline at (818) 350-1929.