Not a pesty tax
VIC LEIPZIG AND LOU MURRAY
Right now, property owners throughout Orange County have a terrific
opportunity to do something beneficial for the environment. We’re
referring to the assessment ballot on behalf of Orange County Vector
Control, which we strongly support.
The Orange County Vector Control District is an independent agency
that controls rats, mosquitoes and other pests in Orange County. The
pests are known as vectors because they transmit disease. Vectors are
worse than mere nuisances; they are true public health hazards.
Vector Control provides an essential public service in controlling
the numbers of these disease vectors. We say control because there is
simply no way to totally eradicate mosquitoes or rats.
Do you know the difference between a big animal and a little
animal, other than size? A big animal is one that humans can easily
eradicate. Big animals like elephants, whales and mountain lions can
be hunted effectively with rifles, harpoons and other modern means of
destruction. Humans are capable of totally annihilating species of
big animals, as we have proven time and again. Think of the dodo,
passenger pigeon, and great auk, all hunted to extinction. Think of
the bison, sea otter and grizzly bear, all hunted nearly to
extinction in the wild.
Big animals are easy to eradicate. But little animals like
mosquitoes and fire ants can reproduce faster than we can kill them.
Bacteria and viruses are even smaller and harder to eliminate. Only
under rare circumstances is it possible to eradicate these rapidly
reproducing species.
Vector control does its best to keep the population of these pests
under control. A few decades ago, controlling mosquitoes meant
spraying with synthetic insecticides, including one of the most
notorious, DDT. One of the main characteristics of DDT was its
persistence because of the lack of biodegradation. In fact, DDT
manufactured in the 1950s and 60s, is still present in the
environment in Southern California despite being outlawed in 1970.
In birds, DDT caused thinning of eggshells, which resulted in the
eggs being crushed. Insect control efforts using DDT almost
eliminated the brown pelican, the peregrine falcon and other
sensitive species in California, Louisiana and other states.
Today, mosquito control is done in a much more environmentally
sensitive manner. The major tool used by Vector Control is called Bt,
which stands for Bacillus thuringiensis. This is a species of
bacteria that produces its own toxin to kill insects. The Bt toxin,
being a natural product, biodegrades quite readily. It does not
accumulate in the soil or the ocean. Most importantly, the variety of
Bt in use today, B. thuringiensis israeli, is quite specific. It
kills practically only mosquitoes and not other, possibly beneficial,
insects such as butterflies.
The only drawback to Bt is that it is relatively expensive. Vector
Control could probably do its job at a lower dollar cost by using
chemical insecticides, but the environmental cost would be
staggering. It is in the interest of those of us who love the
environment to see that Vector Control has the financial resources to
continue to do its job the right way -- not the cheap, shortsighted
way.
In the last few years, Vector Control has taken on an important
new job. In Orange County, Vector Control is the only agency fighting
our recent infestation of the imported red fire ant. Fire ants are
all too familiar to those who have lived in the Deep South. What fire
ants are best known for is the ferocious and painful bite that they
inflict on anyone who stumbles onto their nest.
Environmentalists have the extra concern that fire ants have the
ability to out-compete local native ant species. Our local ants have
already taken a beating from another human introduction, the
Argentine ant, which is the common black ant so familiar in
households. This invader has already driven most native ants out of
urbanized areas. Native ants, on the other hand, are worth worrying
about. They are the primary food of some native wildlife, especially
the rapidly disappearing horned lizard. The best thing we could do
for horned lizards would be to implement an effective program to
counteract the spread of fire ants.
Despite the fact that Vector Control’s work is so important, there
will be some people who oppose the assessment. There are people who
will scream at any kind of tax, of any size, for any purpose. The
purpose of this one, we think, is a darned good one and worth
supporting. And how big is this assessment? Hold on to your hats.
It’s a whopping $5.42. Is that $5.42 a day? No. Is it $5.42 a month?
No. It’s only $5.42 per year per parcel of property.
The control of mosquitoes at this time in our history is critical
because of the spread of West Nile virus. We need to give the Vector
Control District the financial resources it needs to protect our
health and the environment. The benefit relative to cost makes this
ballot issue one of the best bargains in town. When you receive your
ballot in the mail, please mark the “Yes” box and mail it in.
* VIC LEIPZIG and LOU MURRAY are Huntington Beach residents and
environmentalists. They can be reached at vicleipzig@aol.com.
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