I attended a town hall meeting here in San Francisco last night and took this video of the panel answering questions about the light apple brown moth.
The panel included Nan Wishner, Mike Lynberg, Stacia Lansman MD, Dr. James Carey, Jeff Rosendale, Helge Hellberg, Penny Livingston-Stark, John Russo and Frank Egger. The moderator was Kelly McMenimen.
I believe that you would find the video interesting as it involves not just a moth, but much more.
Some things to note. The pesticide, encapsulated in microscopic plastic capsules, is sprayed from planes flying at 500 feet. The capsules were supposed to be 80 to 140 microns. Upon testing, 50% were under 10 microns.
After spraying Santa Cruz and Monterey, over 500 people went to the hospital. None of the doctors or patients were ever interviewed.
No testing had been done on this type of application of the chemical before.
No damage from the moth has been reported.
No assessments were done to see if it was successful.
The funding comes from the Department of Homeland Security.
A judge had blocked the spray until August 17, when Arnold says he will begin spraying again because the spray will be proven safe.
Update:
Also, take a look at this post for some more details.
During the Q&A at the end, one person suggested using CEQA as a means to stay informed.
CEQA is pretty interesting:
Its basic purposes are to: inform governmental decision makers and the public about the potential significant environmental effects of proposed activities; identify ways that environmental damage can be avoided or significantly reduced; require changes in projects through the use of alternatives or mitigation measures when feasible; and disclose to the public the reasons why a project was approved if significant environmental effects are involved. CEQA applies to projects undertaken, funded or requiring an issuance of a permit by a public agency. The analysis of a project required by CEQA usually takes the form of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), Negative Declaration (ND), or Environmental Assessment (EA).
What you can do is to write a letter to the CDFA stating:
- that you want to be notified according to CEQA of any aerial spraying in your area.
- that you do not believe this in an emergency
- that you want an EIR