One of my heroes in the LBAM spray public health crisis is my mother. Since learning about the spray, she has written to senators, representatives, newspapers and everyone else she can think of in an attempt to protect the people of California from this bio-chemical assault.

Last week, she decided to write to CDFA and give them a piece of her very wise mind. Just look at the amazing lies she received in reply:

Thank you for writing about the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM) project.
I value hearing your thoughts on the project’s impact on California.

California must work to combat the LBAM because of the complex threat it
poses to our diverse range of agricultural and natural plant life. This
invasive pest attacks more than 250 crops and 2,000 plants and threatens
the native and endangered species that depend on them. If it becomes
established statewide, the LBAM has the potential to cause billions of
dollars of damage annually and cost the state numerous jobs. California
has a duty to prevent the spread of the LBAM before it crosses borders
into other states, agricultural regions and environments.

The LBAM is an invasive pest – not native to California – with few
natural enemies here to reduce its expanding population. To combat this
growing threat, we have proposed an integrated pest-management approach
utilizing aerial and ground application of a moth pheromone.

However, misinformation about the LBAM and our program continues to
spread and cause unwarranted fear – despite constant and open dialogue
for more than a year with citizens and local officials. There has been
no shortage of grossly exaggerated and completely unsubstantiated claims
– such as the pheromone product’s being untested and the treatments
causing red tide (red tide is a naturally occurring marine algal bloom).
Fortunately, the actual facts and due diligence have proven these
claims false.

Pheromones are simply chemical signals that resemble a scent. Pheromone
treatments have been used in the United States and around the world in
agricultural and urban areas (including residential areas of Illinois,
Indiana, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin) for more than a decade without
incident. As recently as last year, more than 3 million acres in the
United States were aerially treated with moth pheromones to disrupt the
mating of the harmful gypsy moths.

For years, environmentalists have urged farmers to develop alternatives
to conventional, toxic, “kill-on-contact” pesticides; pheromones are the
alternative. These pheromones do not even harm the moths; they merely
mimic a signal “scent” naturally emitted by the female moth, thereby
distracting the males so they cannot locate a mate and reproduce.

Recently, the claim that residents became sick from past treatments has
held the public’s attention and has been the subject of demonstrations.
Public health officials with three state departments thoroughly reviewed
health claims submitted during and after the aerial pheromone treatments
last year in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties and could find no link
between the claims and the treatments. As the Governor recently said in
Monterey, the spraying is safe, and “there is nothing that says
otherwise.”

I also hear a number of misleading and inaccurate references to describe
the pheromone, including: hormone, carcinogen, mutagen, endocrine
disruptor and other inaccurate descriptions. These unsupported claims
overlook the fact that the federal Environmental Protection Agency, our
state’s Department of Pesticide Regulation and numerous health agencies
have thoroughly reviewed and unanimously approved these products and
their classification as pheromones. In fact, the pheromone products we
have used in this program are approved for treating organic crops; they
are safe enough that the law states you don’t even have to wait or wash
them off after a treatment before you eat the produce.

However, to thoroughly ensure everyone’s safety, the aerial spraying has
been postponed while we complete what’s known as “six-pack” toxicology
tests in addition to the normal extensive tests on the pheromone
products. These tests thoroughly test toxicity for eye, inhalation,
respiratory and other potential irritants. I am confident that these
additional tests will reassure Californians that we are taking the
safest, most health-conscious and most progressive approach to riddinour state of this very real threat to our agriculture, environment and
economy. I implore everyone to rely on sound science and to shut the
door on false information. For more information about the LBAM project,
please visit our website at www.cdfa.ca.gov or call the LBAM hotline at
1-800-491-1899.

As a public official, I am sworn to protect the public, the environment
and the ecosystems that make California such a uniquely productive and
sustainable resource. I take that responsibility seriously, and I vow
to pursue only the safest, most environmentally friendly means
available.

Again, thank you for writing.

Sincerely,
A.G. Kawamura, Secretary
California Department of Food and Agriculture

There are simply too many lies in this form mail to list. Just look at the way A.G. dispels the documented carcinogens, mutagens, endocrine disruptors in the spray by saying that they’ve been ‘approved’! Look at the claims of ‘thorough’ OEHHA review of the hundreds and hundreds of sicknesses caused by Checkmate. As my readers well know, OEHHA did not bother to contact a single victim or physician. Just look at California’s #1 liar, A.G. Kawamura, putting lies down on paper for all the world to see.

My mother forwarded this letter to me, saying she hoped it might be used as evidence against Kawamura, because it so clearly documents a deliberate attempt to deceive innocent citizens who contact CDFA, looking for the truth.

Most kids grow up fearing that lying to their mothers may result in lightning striking them down on the spot from above. Are there storm clouds brewing over the Kawamura residence this week? There ought to be.