The light brown apple moth eradication program: unsafe, unnecessary, ineffective.
Brief History of the LBAM Program
After a retired entomology professor identified a light brown apple moth (LBAM) in a trap in his backyard, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) launched an aggressive campaign to eradicate this native Australian moth even though there was no evidence of damage from LBAM in the state, and Hawaii and other countries where LBAM has been naturalized for more than 100 years report little or no damage from it.
In fall 2007, after the state aerially sprayed Monterey and Santa Cruz counties for LBAM using a pheromone-based pesticide in microscopic plastic capsules, hundreds of residents became ill, including a previously healthy 11-month old boy who nearly died from respiratory arrest and remains on asthma medication today. A mass seabird die-off, reports of deaths of domestic animals, and an unusually severe red tide also followed the spray. When the state announced the spray program would expand to the San Francisco Bay Area in 2008, there was massive public outcry. The spray was delayed, and then two judges ruled that the state had failed to prove that LBAM was an “emergency” and that the spray could not proceed before CDFA complied with state environmental laws and prepared an Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
In fall 2008, two petitions were submitted to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) asking that LBAM be reclassified so that it no longer requires quarantine and treatment. The USDA has denied the petitions and is taking public comment on this decision. Click here for information on submitting comments. In fall 2009, an expert panel of the National Academy of Sciences condemned the lack of scientific evidence supporting the need for the LBAM program.
CDFA approved the LBAM program EIR in March 2010. The LBAM eradication plan described in the EIR includes 7 different types of treatments, from aerial spray of a pheromone-based pesticide encased in polymer flakes to several different types of ground spray and releases of irradiated sterile moths and predatory wasps. CDFA says it does not plan to use aerial spray as a management tool for LBAM at this time.
To date, there has been no definitively documented damage by LBAM in the state.
