Jun 17, 2008 7:52 pm US/Pacific 
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Lawmakers Question USDA About Moth Spraying
(CBS 5) CBS 5 Investigates
has been raising questions about the State of California's plans to run an
eradication program for the light brown apple moth, which could expose 7 million
people in the Bay Area to pheromone pesticides. Now, members of Congress are
asking questions about the spraying.
"We don't know why a state of
emergency was declared. We don't know anything at this point. What we are saying
is, we want the facts," said Congresswoman Barbara Lee of Oakland. "This has
been fast-tracked. I don't really quite understand why."
Why and how the
Federal and State Departments of Agriculture came up with the plan to spray the
Bay Area with pheromone pesticides to get rid of the light brown apple moth, a
plan that bypassed California's Environmental Quality Act.
"What that did
was allow for a subversion really and going around the CEQA, the environmental
impact statement and processes," Lee said. "You know, that just didn't
happen."
The California Department of Agriculture has said the moth
threatens the state's crops, and trade because growers can't ship plants and
produce if the moth is present. But the moth's status as a threat comes from its
placement on a USDA list. And its designation of the light brown apple moth as a
class-A pest, a designation some experts told CBS 5 Investigates it doesn't
deserve, because it's not really a threat.
In a letter to the USDA, Lee
told the USDA administrator, "It seems clear that the USDA's decision to mandate
this situation as a state of emergency should be carefully
reviewed."
"That is why now we have to go back and get them to answer
these questions, which they didn't," Lee said. "We can't just spend $90 million
on an effort that we don't know the final results of, and what the alternatives
are. Come on!"
Barbara Lee is not the only member of Congress concerned
about the USDA's process.
"I think the USDA has the wrong approach," said
San Mateo Congresswoman Jackie Speier. "It's spray and ask questions later, and
we can't allow them to do that."
Based on her previous interactions with
the agency Speier said, "In my experience with the US Department of Agriculture,
their first and foremost response is to promote the industry."
Speier is
also pressing for answers.
"Accountability is key and we are going to
make sure that the USDA is accountable," she said.
And Speier, along with
others, sees a simple solution.
"Our job will be to see if
administratively we can make the case that the moth should be removed from this
list," Speier said. "And in removing the moth from the list there will be no
need to spray at all. And that would be the best of all
worlds."
Meanwhile the State Senate Agriculture Committee passed a
resolution today from Senator Carole Migden calling for a moratorium on aerial
spraying until the spray is proven safe and effective.
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