FRESNO, Calif. (AP) – Officials on Thursday abruptly canceled a state program to spray chemicals to combat crop-eating moth in urban areas after months of public uproar over its unclear effects on the environment and human health.<\/p>\n
A.G. Kawamura, state secretary of food and agriculture, announced that California had abandoned plans to send up pesticide-spraying planes to fight the light brown apple moth in cities. That includes the densely populated San Francisco Bay area, which had been scheduled for treatment this fall.<\/p>\n
“I know there’s concern out there, and we want to be able to address that,” Kawamura told reporters. “Our focus is to use the technology that has moved progressively forward.”<\/p>\n
Instead, state and federal agricultural officials say they’ll keep the invasive pest from reproducing by releasing sterile moths that will render eggs useless.<\/p>\n
Kawamura said that sterile moths have been a part of the state’s plans for more than a year, and that new science – not environmental concerns – prompted the change in direction. <\/p>\n