Local News in Brief : Fruit Fly Spraying to Start
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Aerial spraying of the pesticide malathion to eradicate Mediterranean fruit flies will begin Monday at 9 p.m. and last until midnight over a 16-square-mile area of the San Fernando Valley, officials said Friday.
Federal, state and county agricultural agencies made plans for the first-ever spraying of the pesticide in the Valley--in an area that includes Northridge, Chatsworth and Reseda--after the discovery of two female flies in a Northridge neighborhood this week.
The discovery prompted Gov. George Deukmejian to issue a declaration of emergency to allow the spraying. Because the fruit flies were found in traps three quarters of a mile apart, agricultural officials said, a sizable fruit fly population is probably located between the two areas.
Helicopters carrying the pesticide will be spraying an area bordered by Devonshire Street on the north, Sherman Way on the south, Wilbur Avenue on the west and Haskell Avenue on the east.
More than 40,000 leaflets were distributed by California Conservation Corps members door to door, notifying residents of the spraying. The leaflets said that “no known hazard to human beings, pets” has been associated with such spraying.
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