The Little Bug That's Eating California

Pierce's Disease is caused by a bacterium that rots the roots of grapevine (and other related) plants. Its' first recorded appearance in California was during the 1880's, and in the 1940's it caused more than $10 million in damages. In the mid-1990's, the blue-green sharpshooter caused $33 million in damages in Sonoma and Napa Counties. That would be pocket change compared to the damage the glassy-winged sharpshooter could do, if it infiltrates the numerous wineries in Northern California. Thusfar the sharpshooter has infested 11 California counties; in Fresno, Tulare and Sacramento counties, the government has begun a spraying program using Sevin; in Temecula Valley Lorsban has been used.

Thusfar, there are no sharpshooters in Sonoma or Napa counties. But egg masses have been discovered on nursery plants imported into Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park. Amazingly enough, there is no quarantine on nursery plants -- nurseries all over the region are still importing plants from Southern California. Imports are cheaper than those locally-grown. But the cost of eradicating the pest could cost millions more than a few dollars saved on plants.

The plan in Sonoma and Napa counties is to use a poisonous spray called chlorpyrifos, which would be sprayed from the air and the ground, on vineyards. Unfortunately, vineyards are everywhere in these counties, and the poison can travel for miles. Bill Lyons, Jr., the secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, decided against quarantining the area (which means infected plants are still arriving daily) but has ok'ed pesticides, even enforced spraying of infected areas. And even though the eggs arrive on imported plants, the only reason given for not imposing a quarantine is that it would be 'unfair to the nurseries'.

That last is what has the residents of Sonoma and Napa in an uproar. Much of the blame has been placed on the wine industry itself. Too much land in these counties is now devoted to growing wine grapes, too much irrigation and prior use of pesticides makes the vines more vulnerable to new pest infestation.

In June, some Sonoma County residents spoke at a Board of Supervisors meeting in Santa Rosa, voicing their concerns over enforced spraying. And on July 27th, a group of Occidental residents calling themselves the Town Hall Coalition held a meeting and presented as speakers Lyons and Nick Frey of the Sonoma County Grape Growers Association. Lynn Hamilton, former mayor of Sebastopol, says,

"We need to go to our state representatives, organize a demonstration, and start a petition saying we object to both ground and aerial spraying."

Organic farmers are particularly concerned about their crops and soil contamination. The pesticides are neuro-toxins, and will kill every insect they touch. It is unknown how much damage could be done to organic plants, animals and children through the spraying. Once organic land has been sprayed with pesticides, nothing can be grown on it for three years.

This month, the California Department of Food and Agriculture imported a tiny parasitic wasp from Mexico. The wasp lays its' eggs in sharpshooter egg masses, and when the baby wasps hatch, they eat the sharpshooter eggs before they can hatch. If that doesn't work, however, it's back to the spraying controversy. On May 19th California governor Gray Davis signed Senate Bill 671, allocating $15 million to eradicate the little bug with the pretty name.

The kicker for the protestors in Northern California is that chlorpyrifos has been banned by the FDA, but is still being used to spray in Southern California. In humans, it can cause side effects ranging from headaches, confusion and inability to concentrate all the way to birth defects and multiple chemical sensitivity. The effects on children can be devastating and long-range, and can end in coma. The protestors don't believe government agencies can be trusted to control a poison that could potentially drift for miles...would you?