Public Quickly Takes Sides on Spray : Medfly: As the news spreads through the aerial drop zone, a rich mix of citrus groves and residences, fear and resignation mingle.

Fruit growers pictured it as a surgical strike needed to prevent economic ruin.

Some parents envisioned it more as a rain of poison threatening their children.

And some resigned souls saw it as a necessary nuisance--a liquid shield for Ventura County’s vulnerable $800-million-a-year fruit market they will just have to scrub off their cars twice a month.

As state and county officials announced their plan for aerial spraying to fight a Medfly infestation in Camarillo, the news spread quickly through the 16-square-mile spray zone, a rich mix of citrus groves and subdivisions, of schoolyards and retirement communities.

Some critics attacked the swift decision to spray.

County officials recommended it Monday--just three days after two mated female Medflies were found in an orchard at St. John’s Seminary. And they confirmed it publicly at a news conference Thursday, just six days before spraying expected is to begin.

“I think it was an agribusiness decision and there was no input from the public,” said Camarillo resident Barbara O’Neill Ferris, who first learned of the malathion plan at the press conference. “The public wasn’t ever given a forum to voice their opinions.”

Five weeks pregnant, Ferris said she worries the pesticide might affect her pregnancy.

“I’m told not to drink alcohol or coffee,” she said. “And now they’re going to spray me and they don’t even give a hoot.”

Kimberly Belshe, director of the California Department of Health, said at the news conference there is no significant health risk from aerial malathion spraying. And county and state officials said they plan to expand on that at a public meeting Tuesday at Las Colinas School in Camarillo.

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But some in the neighborhoods in the Medfly spray zone said they doubt the reassurances.

“I don’t really trust what the government says about it being safe,” said Kathie Henton of Camarillo.

As word of the spraying plan filtered out Thursday, the public quickly took sides.

“If you didn’t do something about it, you’d destroy agriculture in Ventura County,” argued Somis citrus rancher John Borchard. “It’s just like a cancer. If you get it when it’s first detected, it’s a very small surgery and it doesn’t affect the entire body.”

A decade of spraying in Southern California has failed to kill the Medfly, argued Corey Deeter, a member of the Conejo Valley Organic Gardening Club.

“They take millions of dollars of the public’s money to poison people,” she said. “It’s not safe, and it’s futile, because the Medflies are still here.”

Others around Camarillo said they fear the brief drizzle of malathion every two weeks or so will poison their children and pets.

“If they’re worried it’s going to damage our cars and all that stuff, how about our children?” asked Rosie Ortiz. “They should find another way.”

Her daughter, Erika, said she wants to let the family cat, Tim, sleep inside while her neighborhood is being sprayed.

Tim usually sleeps outside, but the family will have to make an exception, said Ortiz.

“I guess I’m going to have to,” Ortiz added. “Knowing (Erika), she’ll cry all night.”

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Judy Harding, principal of El Rancho Elementary School, said she is worried about her pupils getting malathion on their hands from playground equipment.

“I’ll get our lunch tables washed off before the kids ever get there in the morning,” she vowed.

Camarillo resident Julie Knutson groaned with dismay after learning that the spray area includes Dos Caminos Elementary School, which her 8-year-old daughter, Linsey, attends.

“I think they should avoid this area, especially since there are no fruit trees here,” Knutson said, as she picked up her daughter after class Thursday. “Linsey’s already stopped eating fruits and vegetables because of the Medflies, and now, with the spray, I don’t know that I blame her.’

But parent Nancy McCort was unfazed. “I’ve used malathion before on my own fruit trees,” she said, “It’s no big deal; you just have to be sure to wash up afterwards.”

Meanwhile, second-grade teacher Cheryl Parker wondered if she should remove the wooden pots of peas, cauliflowers and carrots her pupils planted in the school courtyard.

“With the spraying, these might be better off inside,” she said. “This will be a good way to teach the kids about the malathion.”

At the Pleasant Valley School District, associate superintendent Howard Hamilton said he plans to have all their outdoor tables and playground equipment hosed down after each spraying.

“I feel pretty comfortable that it’s safe for the children, but we still want to take every precaution we can,” Hamilton said. “But this is all happening really fast. I mean, they’re talking about starting up next Wednesday, so that doesn’t give us a lot of time to prepare.”

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At Leisure Village, the giant retirement community that sits at the eastern edge of the spray zone, 97-year-old Mauray Malnick pooh-poohed health concerns over the spray.

“If I worried about all the sprays and poisons and everything else that’s supposed to be bad for me, I’d be dead by now,” Malnick said. “If they need to spray to get rid of the pests, that’s just fine by me.”

But John Callas, another resident of the Leisure Village senior citizens community, disagreed.

“We know from the spraying in other places that this stuff can ruin the paint job on your car,” Callas said. “What a bother to have to go out there every time they spray and cover up your car. There’s got to be a better way to handle this.”

The fact that each spraying will deposit only 1.2 ounces of malathion per acre cut no ice with another resident of Leisure Village.

“This is an issue of life and death to the elderly people of Leisure Village,” said Alan Rosin, who lives there with his 84-year-old mother, Betty Rosin. “We can’t even evacuate because it’s going to be sprayed l2 separate times.”

Supervisor Maggie Kildee said it was her understanding that the boundaries could change and that county officials would try to determine whether spraying needed to take place over the gated community.

“Leisure Village is definitely a concern,” Kildee told Rosin. “If it needs to be sprayed to take care of the Medfly then it will have to be sprayed. But if it doesn’t, it will not.”

Rosin shot back: “When will I know so that I have time to get my mother out of Leisure Village? What I see happening is a large rush to very quick decisions.”

Times staff writers Fred Alvarez, Miguel Bustillo, Sara Catania and Constance Sommer and correspondent Matthew Mosk contributed to this story.

* MAIN STORY: A1

Medfly Quarantine and Eradication Areas Aerial spraying of malathion begins Wednesday over the 16-square mile eradication zone. State officials have ordered 10 to 12 aerial drops over the next six months. Ground spraying of the pesticide continues within 660 feet of each Medfly discovered. Source: State Department of Food and Agriculture

What to Do Aerial spraying of malathion is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. Wednesday.

State and federal agencies report that malathion has been studied extensively, and there is no evidence that it causes cancer, birth defects, nerve damage, eye damage or cumulative injury. But residents are cautioned to avoid exposure.

Officials also recommend that the following precautions be taken during and after spraying:

* Remain indoors if possible while spraying is in progress.

* If outdoors, avoid looking up at the falling droplets.

* If in contact with spray, wash residues from skin and clothing with soap and water.

* Do not leave laundry outdoors when spraying is scheduled. If laundry is soiled, rewash before wearing.

* Put your car in a garage or carport or cover it with a plastic tarp to prevent paint damage when spraying is scheduled.

* If your car is outside during spraying, wash it the next day to prevent paint damage.

* Rinse plastic skylights and awnings the day after spraying to prevent permanent stains.

* Cover fish ponds before spraying and uncover shortly after to minimize water contamination while avoiding oxygen depletion.

* After an area has been sprayed, wash outdoor eating areas, playground equipment and objects such as toys and pet food dishes that may have been outside during spraying.

* Avoid harvesting home-grown fruits and vegetables for three days after spraying.

* Rinse all fresh fruits and vegetables with water before cooking or eating them, just as you should with store-bought items.

Additional information about malathion is available by calling (800) 491-1899.