From: "Michael Parenti" = Subject: Forced toxic spraying of urban Northern California

[L. Coyote]

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 ...
From: "Michael Parenti" ..@...
Subject: Forced toxic spraying of urban Northern California

Starting in June, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) plans to aerial spray pesticides
over the Bay Area and Central Coast to address the Light Brown Apple Moth(LBAM) issue. The moth has a record
of being relatively harmless and manageable in New Zealand and Hawaii. Leading scientists now say that it
would be impossible to eradicate the moth,and the best strategy would be ground traps that sterilize the moth.

Areas slated for spraying include: all of San Francisco, large parts of
Alameda (including Oakland and Berkeley), Contra Costa, Marin, and San
Mateo Counties, and Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties (all politically
progressive areas incidentally). The January spraying of Santa Cruz and
Monterey caused over 600 cases of respiratory illness, rashes, nausea,
and the like. People with compromised immune systems may be especially
at risk.

This is the first-time ever aerial spraying of the proposed pesticides
has occurred over densely populated areas, and no studies have been done
on the health or environmental impacts of such aerial spraying in urban
areas. If not stopped, CDFA plans to continue spraying each month for up
to 3 years or indefinitely until the moth is eradicated.

Please write to the Assembly Agriculture Committee Members and Governor
Schwarzenegger to urge them to support an immediate moratorium on aerial
spraying until safer non-aerial alternatives can be identified, and to support
proposed legislation to ensure the informed consent of the people that would be affected.

You can take action on this alert via the web at:
http://ga3.org/campaign/LBAM/

Visit the web address below to tell your friends in
California about this (this action will only work for California residents).

http://ga3.org/campaign/LBAM/

We encourage you to take action by April 9, 2008 to Stop Aerial Pesticide Spraying in the Bay Area!

INSTRUCTIONS TO RESPOND VIA THE WEB:
If you have access to a web browser, you can take action on this alert by going to the following URL:

http://ga3.org/campaign/LBAM/

Your letter will be addressed and sent to: California Assembly Committee on Agriculture (if you
live in California)

----THIS LETTER WILL BE SENT IN YOUR NAME----
Dear ,

I am very concerned about the proposed aerial
spraying for the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM). This is the first-time ever aerial spraying of a
proposed pesticide might occur over densely populated areas. What is most troubling is that no
studies have been conducted on the long-term health or
environmental impacts of such aerial spraying in urban areas. The spray has not been tested for
long-term human toxicity yet it could pose respiratory and inhalation risks, especially given that
the proposed plan would include multiple aerial sprayings over a short period of time, and over
several years.

In addition, the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) does not have an adequate public notification system in place to ensure that
all affected individuals would be notified of the date and time of any control or eradication
efforts. This lack of public notification is completely unacceptable and denies the public the right to
protect themselves and their children from pesticide exposure.

I urge you to support an immediate moratorium on any aerial spraying over urban populations in
California. In addition, please support the proposed legislation (AB 2760, 2763, AB 2764, AB 2765, AB
2892) as a package to ensure public notifications and informed consent of the people who would be
affected by the implementation of a control or eradication program.

Thank you for your consideration of this urgent request.

> ----END OF LETTER TO BE SENT----

> cc:
> Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger (if you live in California)
> Your Assemblyperson (if you live in California)

[madfloridian]

1. They sprayed us with Malathion to save the citrus trees.

When it was done our squirrels in a neighborhood with huge oak trees were stunted in their growth,they looked like baby squirrels. It was in the 90s, and I have not seen a regular size squirrel since.

There were no frogs and lizards after that spraying for several years. Still, very few frogs...mostly just tiny rain frogs at times.

The lizards began showing up again..they were white for a while.

The citrus trees are being destroyed now for developers anyway.

[arikara]

2. They sprayed to get rid of the gypsy moth

and in the process killed off all the butterflies, moths and who knows what else for a decade. I'm finally noticing a few more coming back every year. Its perverted to spray like that, killing off entire species and harming every other living thing that has to breath.

[L. Coyote]

3. One experience I had with organophosphate spray. hysterectomy surgery by midnioght!

I lived on a large tree farm, in the old farm house surrounded by a landscape tree nursery.

The plane came in early, before I left the property. I tried to wave it off, and the drift was heading directly for me. I took shelter in the house and called the landlord. Foolishly, she came over. Walking from the car to the house exposed her. She hemmoraged so badly, she had a hysterectomy surgery before midnight, the same day.

The cat got out that evening. By then, all the baby birds had fallen from the nest, dead for poisoning. The cat came in and puked birds on the bed. A week later the cat had such dramatic neurological damage, it could not walk normally.

I investigated and the government sent me a list of possible symptoms to humans if exposed to the chemicals spreayed. The list was two pages long and involved every imaginable biological system we have.

Needless to say, I no longer live in the middle of a tree farm.

===========
Another story. New home. The neighbors are worried about termites, which are ubiquitous in soils in the area. They call the exterminator, who injects organophosphates under the house. The both have cancers within a few months, and die within two years. The termites are still there.

==========
I could go on at length, just form direct experience, with more stories like this.

[mike_c]

5. organophosphates are bad news....

It's even worse when you consider how many applications are badly done. I've heard a number of horror stories like yours.

[Booster]

19. They sprayed the Los Angeles basin years ago also with that

shit and right after that we lost Sammy Davis Jr and Jill Ireland who were both battling cancer. I'm sure the spray didn't help them in their battle, or other people who were not famous. I'm sure it will kill whatever bees are in the area also.

[mike_c]

4. what is the "proposed pesticide?"

I've only heard about planned microencapsulated pheromone release, i.e. biological control via mating disruption. Is there a pesticide application planned too (or instead)? What is the compound?

[seemslikeadream]

6. THANK YOU!

Michael Parenti - Terrorism, Globalism & Conspiracy

"Coincidence Theory: By shear chance things just happen repeatedly and coincidentally to benefit their interests without any conscious connivance by them, which is most uncanny. There is also: Stupidity Theory, Innocence Theory, Momentary Aberration Theory, Incompetence Theory, Unintended Consequences Theory and Innocent Cultural Proclivities Theory."

- Michael Parenti

[mike_c]

7. I'm calling bullshit....

I did some independent checking and as I thought, the "proposed pesticide" is just about as green a biocontrol measure as any available. The aerial spray is LBAM mating pheromone, which the moths themselves release into the environment anyway. The pheromone is released in very low doses-- it's active in vanishingly small quantities-- microencapsulated in tiny plastic beads that cling to surfaces such as leaves to provide a timed release of pheromone.

LBAM pheromone is not toxic, not even to the targeted moths. It does not harm them at all. Rather, it makes it impossible for males to locate females for mating by obscuring the pheromone signals females are already emitting anyway. There seems to be some concern because the pheromone being released is synthetic-- the alternative is to raise billions of moths and grind up their abdomens. The synthetic pheromone has the same biological activity as the natural one, and it spares a bunch of moths. Not to mention the energy requirements and potential for escape from a captive breeding program. The pheromone is certified for use on organic crops. It is a safe, natural biological control.

The LBAM control program also calls for the release of NATIVE Tricogramma wasp egg parasitoids-- another perfectly natural biocontrol effort. Environmentalists and agricultural ecologists have worked for DECADES to get these sorts of control measures in wide use.

I don't understand how anyone could get so freaked out by this program. This is exactly the RIGHT way to confront a potentially destructive non-native, invasive pest species. It doesn't get much more environmentally friendly than this!

[seemslikeadream]

9. I don't think Parenti is into bullshit

[mike_c]

10. well, he is completely wrong about this one....

I suspect he's getting his information from some pretty poorly informed folks. There are people utterly freaking out in the Bay area, talking about the LBAM wars, etc. They apparently think that any pest control effort must automatically make Rachel Carson's kitten cry.

The LBAM pheromone and the backup pesticide Bt (for hand application if the aerial spray fails) are both certified for use on organic farms, as are the Trichogramma egg parasitoids. They are utterly natural biological controls. This really is an exemplary control program-- I hope it works because if it doesn't-- or if the knee-jerk opposition prevents it-- the only winners will be proponents of toxic chemical controls.

LBAM is an invasive species that threatens California agriculture to the tune of billions in annual losses. Mexico has already embargoed some California produce to prevent the southern spread of the LBAM. Like many introduced insect species, LBAM has the potential to become an agricultural and ecological disaster.

[Two Americas]

18. thanks mike_c

This sort of fear mongering does so much damage to the cause of environmentalism. Unfortunately, fear mongering is a reliable cash cow for the various "non-profits," and public ignorance and lack of critical thinking can be relied upon so it is easy to fleece people.

As you point out, environmentalists and agricultural ecologists have worked for decades to get these sorts of control measures in wide use to replace toxic pesticides. But it doesn't matter, all of the good work can be trashed and the public mind poisoned by these misleading scare stories.

It is amazing to me how otherwise reliable and sensible people, such as Parenti, can get sucked into this nonsense.

Reproductive disruption strategies, and naturally occurring pesticides such as that from the Bt bacteria ARE the safe and natural alternatives, people.

The really unfortunate thing about this is that it is becoming more and more common in these blatantly false stories that government agencies are trashed out. This new form of idiotic environmentalism and "organic" advocacy just happens to dovetail quite nicely with the libertarian right wing "privatization" theme of tearing down government. It is right wing politically and highly reactionary.

As liberals, WE WANT the California Department of Agriculture to be handling this problem, we want public solutions to social problems to, we want the experts to be finding and using safe methods, and we want those agencies to be supported and funded. The alternative is libertarian privatization.

The right wingers and big money interests want to destroy the California Department of Agriculture. Why would we let ourselves be led into joining in their attack on public agencies?

[arikara]

21. I did some checking too and its not as benign as you seem to think...

Breathing a chemical plastic dust thats made to waft around in the air for a month or more isn't a good thing no matter how you cut it. The precautionary principle should apply to ALL spray programs.

...
These chemicals have not undergone thorough safety evaluations, and do not just simply evaporate, but are designed to hang in the air 30-90 days or more. Such chemical applications are of most concern to pregnant women, in which even a minute dosage of a disrupting chemical can cause grave harm to the fetus. This is over and above the real concern for people who are trying to live a chemical-free lifestyle and who won't be able to escape the hundreds of square miles of densely populated areas to be sprayed, or for those who are sensitive to chemicals, or who are in poor health.

The chemicals sprayed are a plastic encapsulated microtechnology; the microscopic plastic dust, once sprayed, deeply enters the mouth, eyes, skin and lungs. Even after 90 days and several rains, some people in Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties are still experiencing symptoms of spray poisoning. When they leave the counties, their symptoms many times abate.
...

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10711.cfm

[mike_c]

23. not true....

First, check some of the references I cited down-thread about mating disruption with pheromones. The major inert ingredient in this preparation is water. The next is urea if I recall correctly-- the "plastic" is a polymer of urea. Both are common and biologically benign. The pheromone itself is not only 100 percent harmless, even to the moths, but it is already present in the atmosphere people are breathing in the infested areas anyway, where it's released by the moths themselves.

The pheromone microcapsules do not float around for weeks as you've suggested. This is a common misunderstanding. In order to work, they must release pheromone in specific, well defined geographic locations, i.e. where the female moths are calling and the male moths are cruising for mates. An aerosol suspension would rapidly blow away and do no good at all. The capsules are designed to cling to surfaces, especially leaves, where they can release pheromone in much the same way the moths themselves do. Also, once dispersed they're present at very low concentrations-- certainly way less than most pollen that people breath all the time.

The earlier reports of "illness" after exposure to mating disruption pheromones have been largely discredited. I don't believe there have been any documented cases of "spray poisoning" as you called it-- the spray isn't poisonous. Again, nearly all the compounds people in the treatment areas are being exposed to are compounds that are already part of their natural environment. In any event, ALL of the alternatives are worse, most of them hideously worse. Malathion, anyone?

The pheromone treatment ingredients are all known to be benign. Human exposure to the inert ingredients is minimal for the reasons I've described above, and most are common biological compounds anyway. Mating disruption pheromones-- including this one-- are approved for organic farming. Biological control is the holy grail of the IPM and organic pest management movements. This is an environmental success story, or at least it will be if it eradicates the invasive moth species.

I won't say that the risk of environmental damage is ZERO-- that would be ridiculous-- but I will say that it's absolutely minimal, and way way WAY lower than the risks of using toxic chemical pesticides, which no one wants, and the risk the LBAM itself poses to the environment, which is considerable. The risk of injury from the aircraft crashing is much greater than the risk of injury from the pheromone spray.

on edit-- note too that the amount of pheromone being released is TINY-- mating pheromones work at concentrations measured in milligrams and micrograms per acre. Pest control just doesn't get any greener or more benign than this.

[L. Coyote]

24. I'm reminded of lead in pipes and gasoline. No problem, don't worry ...

The problem is doing things without full knowledge of the possible consequences.

Has this substance been tested on humans? By whom?

[seemslikeadream]

8. Hidden Holocaust, USA

From Dirty Truths by Michael Parenti







http://www.michaelparenti.org/HiddenHolocaust.html

.....



Left uncounted are the more than two thousand yearly deaths in the U.S. military due to training and transportation accidents, and the many murders and suicides in civilian life that are incorrectly judged as deaths from natural causes, along with the premature deaths from cancer caused by radioactive and other carcinogenic materials in the environment. Almost all cancer deaths are now thought to be from human-made causes.

Fatality figures do not include the people who are incapacitated and sickened from the one thousand potentially toxic additional chemicals that industry releases into the environment each year, and who die years later but still prematurely. At present there are at least 51,000 industrial toxic dump sites across the country that pose potentially serious health hazards to communities, farmlands, water tables, and livestock. One government study has concluded that the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat are now perhaps the leading causes of death in the United States.

None of these figures include the unhappiness, bereavement, and longterm emotional wounds inflicted upon the many millions of loved ones, friends, and family members who are close to the victims.

...

In addition, more and more middle-income people are hurting from the Third Worldization of America, suffering from acute stress, alcoholism, job insecurity, insufficient income, high rents, heavy mortgage payments, high taxes, and crushing educational and medical costs. And almost all of us eat the pesticide-ridden foods, breathe the chemicalized air, and risk drinking the toxic water and being exposed to the contaminating wastes of our increasingly chemicalized, putrefied environment. I say “almost all of us” because the favored few live on country estates, ranches, seashore mansions, and summer hideaways where the air is relatively fresh. And, like President Reagan, they eat only the freshest food and meat derived from organically fed steers that are kept free of chemical hormones—while telling the rest of us not to get hysterical about pesticides and herbicides and chemical additives.

All this explains why many of us find little cause for rejoicing about America the Beautiful. It is not that we don’t love our country, but that we do. We love not just an abstraction called “the USA’ but the people who live in it. And we believe that the pride of a nation should not be used to hide the social and economic disorder that is its shame. The American dream is becoming a nightmare for many. A concern for collective betterment, for ending the abuses of free-market plunder, is of the utmost importance. “People before profits” is not just a slogan, it is our only hope.

[mike_c]

11. obfuscation really isn't helpful....

I'm not going to argue with anything Parenti wrote in the passage you quoted because I agree with most of it. But NONE of that has anything to do with the LBAM eradication program. LBAM is a non-native invasive species-- the ecological equivalent of a ticking time bomb. The proposed eradication program is one of the most environmentally responsible plans I've ever seen for a situation like this one.

This plan should not be opposed by environmentalists. It should be held up as a model of ecological responsibility for the rest of the country. Biological control of invasive species is our best hope to STOP the sorts of abuses Parenti writes about!

[seemslikeadream]

14. It was not intended to obfuscate

I intended to show credibility, could you link to something I could read from you (book or article)or anyone else?

[mike_c]

15. here....

California Dept of Food and Agriculture announcement in it's entirity:

Release#CDFA08-010

LIGHT BROWN APPLE MOTH 2008 ACTION PLAN ANNOUNCED

SACRAMENTO, February 13, 2008 – The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) have completed an action plan outlining 2008 strategies in the ongoing project to eradicate the light brown apple moth (LBAM) from California’s Central Coast and Bay Area communities.

The light brown apple moth is native to Australia and is found in New Zealand, the United Kingdom and Hawaii. The range of host plants is broad with more than two-thousand plant species known to be susceptible to attack by this pest. It threatens California’s environment—including cypress, redwood and oak trees—by destroying, stunting or deforming young seedlings and damaging new growth in the forest canopy. The moth also feeds on host plants favored by a number of endangered species; spoils the appearance of ornamental plants; and injures citrus, grapes, and deciduous fruit tree crops.

A USDA study indicates that, if California becomes generally infested, the moth would cause between $160 million and $640 million in crop damage annually. Additionally, it would hinder export opportunities and interstate commerce due to quarantine restrictions. Already, Mexico and Canada have imposed export regulations on California because of the LBAM infestation.

The overall goal of the project is to eradicate the light brown apple moth from California. This task will likely take several years to accomplish using several treatment tools, some of which are available and in use now while others are under review or development.

The primary tool for eradication will be aerial treatment with LBAM moth pheromone, which will disrupt the pest’s mating cycle. Moth pheromone does not harm people, pets or plants. While conventional insecticides are designed to kill insects, pheromones are designed to distract or confuse them so that they cannot breed. In nature, the pheromone is released by the female moth to attract a mate. The “scent” is undetectable to humans and is highly specific to the light brown apple moth and several other closely related species, so it does not affect other kinds of insects or animals.

Aerial treatments are expected to begin June 1 in the infested areas of Monterey and Santa Cruz counties, with subsequent aerial treatments expected to begin August 1 in San Francisco, Daly City, Colma, Oakland, Piedmont, Emeryville, Albany, El Cerrito, El Sobrante, Tiburon and Belvedere. The treatments in these areas are designed to be reapplied at 30- to 90-day intervals while the moths are active.
In some of the areas designated for aerial treatment, the plan also calls for the release of tiny, stingerless wasps (trichogramma) that target the LBAM eggs. The native California wasps are 1/25th of an inch long, harmless to people and pets and they are widely used by home gardeners and organic or IPM growers. The wasps would be released in Spring 2008 and would be used in conjunction with aerial treatments – most likely in San Francisco, Santa Cruz County, and on the Monterey Peninsula. These wasps will not bother over-wintering monarch butterflies and they would not be released near threatened or endangered plants or butterflies and moths.

Smaller, more isolated infested areas would be treated using either pheromone-infused twist ties or a pheromone-based male moth attractant treatment applied to utility poles and street trees on public and private property. In each area, the infestation’s size and density, the availability of host plants, and other variables will be considered in determining the appropriate method. Twist ties have been used successfully in several areas over the past year, and additional applications are scheduled to begin over the next few weeks in Marin and San Mateo counties, with other areas to be announced in the coming weeks as the weather warms up and the moths become more active. Male attractant treatment may begin in Spring 2008.

In the event of detection of a heavy larval population, the action plan calls for handheld spraying of plants and trees with Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) or Spinosad, both of which derive from naturally- occurring bacteria and are approved for use on organic crops.

The action plan also provides for consultation with the Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) concerning pesticide use, and contains provisions for sharing information with the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) and other agencies for their use in educating physicians in the treatment areas, protecting threatened and endangered species and sensitive sites, and obtaining all required permits. OEHHA will team with other public health organizations to develop and oversee a program for the reporting, tracking and scientific evaluation of reported illness incidents. To date, collaboration between OEHHA and DPR has resulted in a consensus statement concluding that illnesses reported last year in Santa Cruz and Monterey counties were not likely to have been caused by pheromone treatments there.

The action plan has been developed in consultation with representatives of the LBAM Technical Working Group as a guide to the major elements and strategies of the eradication program. Specific actions will be guided by this plan, which could be modified due to new moth detections and trapping results, as well as operational constraints such as funding and the availability of treatment materials.

Since its detection in February 2007, the Light Brown Apple Moth has been found throughout the central coast region in the counties of Monterey, Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, Alameda and Solano. CDFA and the USDA continue work on treatment plans for communities within these counties. Small, isolated infestations detected last year in Los Angeles and Napa counties have already been eradicated. Twist ties were utilized in both counties.

Additional information on the action plan is available at: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/lbam
Media Contact: Steve Lyle, Director of CDFA Public Affairs, 916/654-0462
Jay Van Rein, CDFA, 916/654-0462
Larry Hawkins, USDA, 916-930-5509

The California Department of Food and Agriculture protects and promotes California’s agricultural industry. California’s farmers and ranchers produce a safe, secure supply of food, fiber and shelter; marketed fairly for all Californians; and produced with responsible environmental stewardship.

The California LBAM Action Plan: http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/phpps/pdep/lbam/pdfs/docs/2008_LBAM_Action_Plan.pdf

Information about the LBAM: http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/plant_pest_info/lba_moth/index.shtml

Information about the threats posed by invasive species: http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/
From the Ecological Society of America: http://www.esa.org/education/edupdfs/invasion.pdf

Some information about pheromone treatment biological control: http://ucanr.org/delivers/impactview.cfm?impactnum=350
http://membracid.wordpress.com/2008/02/19/ask-an-entomologist-sex-pheromones-and-mating-disruption/
http://tfpg.cas.psu.edu/57.htm

on edit: One more worth a look: http://membracid.wordpress.com/2008/02/20/mating-disruption-pheromones-and-paranoia/

[seemslikeadream]

16. Thanks I'll read it

[kineneb]

12. slightly OT- Hubby probably a victim

he worked for 4 years at a naval shipyard, during Vietnam. He was exposed to all the degreasers, etc., used in the machine shop, and probably some interesting stuff while working on nuclear submarines.

He developed diabetes aprox. 10 years later (around age 36), but didn't have it diagnosed until he developed retinopathy... also had cataract surgery in both eyes, kidney cancer, kidney failure and he is slowly dying from cardiac failure (CHF). He just "celebrated" his 61st birthday in the hospital (he is now out). It all seems like too much, too soon.

:cry:

[nomorenomore08]

13. Oh shit! This is right by where I live (north of Berkeley/Richmond) and where I went to school (SC).

nt

[Retrograde]

17. it's not the first time urban areas in CA have been sprayed with pesticides

In the early 1980s large parts of the Bay Area - including my house - were sprayed with malathion to try to eliminate (or at least reduce) the Mediterranean fruitfly epidemic, which was believed to have come from tourists bringing fruit into the state. They also released sterile male medflies to interrupt the breeding cycle.

From what the release says, this is a species-specific phemerone. I'd rather they not have to do this, but if the alternative is destroying my fruit crop, I say go for it.

[mike_c]

20. yes, this is completely different....

Malathion is an organophosphate-- one of the most dangerous classes of toxic insecticides. Very nasty stuff. Mating disruption and other biological control techniques give us natural, organic alternatives to environmentally damaging measures like spraying malathion.

One thing many people seem to be forgetting in all the hysteria surrounding the LBAM plan is that the pheromone is already in the air wherever the moths have invaded. Females produce it naturally. The mating disruption strategy is to add other sources of pheromone plumes that DON'T lead to female moths, so that males get their signals crossed and fly around confusedly without finding females to mate with. No mating, no second generation. And no neurotoxins like malathion.

[arikara]

22. Giving this a kick

for the Precautionary Principle.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_10711.cfm