Action Expected on Plan to Eradicate Fire Ants

A plan to wipe out fire ants over the next five years is expected to be approved today by the Board of Supervisors.

“This is the first comprehensive, wide-scale eradication attempt in the county,” said Rick LeFeuvre, county agricultural commissioner.

Part of the plan calls for spreading a slow-acting sterilization agent in infested areas, as well as launching a public education campaign about the stinging ant, which last year established its first major West Coast colonies in Orange County and portions of Los Angeles and Riverside counties.

In some extremely rare instances, a fire ant’s sting can cause severe allergic reaction or even death to those who already have been stung and sensitized. Severe allergic reaction occurs in 1 in 10,000 cases, according to health experts.

The county has waited months for state funding for the eradication. LeFeuvre said the delay was due, in part, to problems involving a special funding bill, SB 204, and waiting for the governor’s signature. When the governor finally signed the bill, he reduced the funding from $9.5 million to $6 million for statewide fire ant eradication measures.

The bill actually provides money only through the current fiscal year, which ends in June.

Fire ants were discovered last year when more than 40 mounds estimated to contain about 300,000 ants each were found in a field and adjacent park in the Robinson Ranch planned community near Trabuco Canyon. State officials have since discovered hundreds of mounds in residential areas of Cypress, Coto de Caza, Los Alamitos and Mission Viejo. They believe the insects have infiltrated 23 of Orange County’s cities and four unincorporated areas.