UPDATE: It is time to take down the Orange County Vector Control District
UPDATE: How we stopped the Santa Ana Mosquito Spraying operation
Orange County Vector Control and the City of Santa Ana distributed a press release yesterday about spraying of an insecticide to kill mosquitoes that is taking place only in the City of Santa Ana, starting on Sep. 8 through Sep. 11, 2014. Why was this news sent out so late in the week, on a Friday? And why isn’t Anaheim getting sprayed when they have had 42 West Nile Virus cases while Santa Ana has had 31 such infections reported? And Tustin and Garden Grove have had twice the West Nile Virus fatalities that Santa Ana has had – which is exactly one death. Click here to see a map showing where the illnesses and deaths have occurred in Orange County.
Santa Ana does lead the County with regard to dead birds identified to have been infected with the West Nile Virus, with 65 such dead birds. Anaheim has had 23 dead birds and there have been 20 in Huntington Beach, according to this map.
Why is the spraying of a poison in our city an issue? Well check out what Vector Control says we should do when the spraying starts, at 3 am this Monday:
- Stay indoors during the treatment and for 30 minutes afterwards
- Close doors and windows and shut down non recirculating air conditioners during treatment and for 30 minutes after treatment
- Cover outdoor fishponds, pet food, and water bowls prior to the application
The spraying will continue daily through Sep. 11 from 3 am to 5 am.
The product being sprayed is called Clarke Aquaanvil. Click here to read more about it. The product’s Safety Data Sheet admits that:
- The product is toxic to aquatic organisms, including fish and aquatic invertebrates. Runoff from treated areas or deposition of spray droplets into a body of water may be hazardous to fish and aquatic invertebrates.
- This product is highly toxic to bees exposed to direct treatment on blooming crops or weeds.
- The product causes moderate eye irritation. Avoid contact with eyes or clothing.
Opposition to spraying insecticides to stop the West Nile Virus rests on two very simple facts: 1) it does not work, and 2) it is dangerous to some people in the short term and adds to the overall pesticide load in the environment for the long term, according to an organization called Stop West Nile Virus Spraying Now. The second point is moot given that adulticiding is ineffective, but it is important because spraying continues as West Nile virus recedes into a state known as chronic endemicity, one in which very few people are infected. Moreover, indiscriminate spraying can increase resistance in non-target insects so that there might be no effective control available when an actual threat appears, and it harms beneficial insects, whose recovery cycle is often much longer. The question is not whether to spray; rather, it is if we should use effective means of control instead of ineffective and damaging ones.
Why were the people of Santa Ana notified so late about this poison spraying? And why is Santa Ana the only city being targeted by Vector Control? Simple. Our residents generally don’t read newspapers and are not involved in government affairs. And our politicians are asleep at the wheel.
If you are unhappy about the spraying of a toxic mist in our city, with such short notice and no attempt to explore any alternatives to this, here is who you should contact:
- Supervisor Janet Nguyen – she is so busy running for the 34th State Senate District that she is not doing her job as our County Supervisor. And as a resident of Garden Grove she could care less what is done to the people of Santa Ana. Email her here.
- Our representative on the Board of Trustees of Orange County Vector Control is Cecilia Aguinaga. She is running for office right now too, for the SAUSD School Board. Email her here or call her at (714) 971-2421 Ext.115.
- The Santa Ana City Council. Email them here.
- Santa Ana Councilwoman Michele Martinez, Ward 2. She is currently running for re-election. Email her here and here. Call her at (714) 887-9845.
- Santa Ana Councilman David Benavides, Ward 4. He is currently running for re-election. Email him here and here. Call him at (714) 475-1630.
- Santa Ana Mayor Pro Tem Sal Tinajero, Ward 6. He is currently running for re-election. Email him here and here. Call him at (714) 552-2800.
- Santa Ana Councilman Roman Reyna, Ward 5. He is currently running for Mayor of Santa Ana. Email him here. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Councilman Vince Sarmiento, Ward 1. Email him here. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Councilwoman Angie Amezcua, Ward 3. Email her here. Call her at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana Mayor Miguel Pulido. Email him here. He is currently running for reelection. Call him at 714-647-6900.
- Santa Ana City Manager David Cavazos. Email him here. Call him at (714) 647-5200.
Well of course the vector control wants to test the efficiency of this pesticides on Santa Ana first so it can assure other cities it’s not an environmental harm.
YEAH RIGHT!!
I have seen the vector control spray against other threats in the past such as the fruit fly and nobody said anything against the spraying of our city. So, if you are concerned about Monday’s spraying do SPEAK UP!
CALL PULIDO!!!
You should contact everyone on the City Council. The information is in my article.
He is out of town…..lives in anaheim…i thinkl….no zombie juice for him!
He lives in Santa Ana!
Vector Control doesn’t and has never sprayed for fruit flies. That’s a state department that does that. You should actually knowwhat youre talking about before you respond. And if you read the safety data sheet you’ll see that the people who recieve the most exposure, the actual people spraying, don’t even have to wear any kind of mask. Read what a can of Raid says. Home pesticides are far more toxic. Aqua Anvil has been used for years in multiple places in thr County. Places like Irvine and Coto De Caza. This isn’t an experiment on poor Santa Ana.
Just stop killing spiders and let them build their spider webs, they will take care of the mosquitoes. FACT!!!
Its probably not even for the freaking mosquitos. Its probably a poison gas that will get our people sick and lead to death in a slow process. Why does it have to be here in Santa Ana. Whycant it be done in Irvine, Costa Mesa or other cities on the sputh of orange county.
At least in Anaheim. Very fishy that our city is the guinea pig.
If this is ineffective, why should any city be targeted?
Well imagine how much money is being spent on this. The chemical supplier is making a fortune. And the County workers are going to pile up some overtime. Follow the money…
I get that a lot is about money, but why do you prefer that other cities get sprayed instead of Santa Ana. No city should be sprayed if you’re saying that this is ineffective.
I questioned why only one city was being sprayed. The spraying itself is questionable.
If you think the county cares if the workers get the money your ignorance is shown just in that.
Departments are often granted budgets that dissappear if they don’t use the hours.
Anaheim should lead everyone in that so called virus, disneyland attracts people from all over the world, those people could have brought them viruses over through luggage and clothing as well
Once again our elected officials elected to dump on us . time to boot them out
Amen to that!
i was just saying the same thing, all of these people are getting the boot!!!!!
If you are going to wig out over chemicals that are allegedly way up in the sky shouldn’t you be worried about chemicals being sprayed directly onto your property?
Just leave them alone and let them do thr job… Hope for the best otherwise have you’re lawyers on speed dial.
I just recovered from the West Nile, was not a good feeling, but Santa Ana is the only city doing it because there the only ones who probanaly approved of doing it the first place.
I just emailed everyone on that list. Please, everybody needs to do the same. If we don’t speak up then we’ll just continue to be their guinea pigs. Speak up for your community!!
You should get your facts straight before posting articles like this. No city is being targeted. Go to Orange County Health Care Agency’s website to see the numbers for yourself.
We did see the numbers. Anaheim has had 42 cases. Santa Ana has had 31. Tustin and Garden Grove have each had two fatalities and Santa Ana has had only one.
See for yourself here – http://www.ocvcd.org/Maps/WNV_Human_cases_2004-Aug2014.jpg
Just got a call from Cecilia Aguinagua spraying postponed for now
Yes we posted that notice earlier today. http://newsantaana.com/2014/09/07/exclusive-mosquito-spraying-in-santa-ana-delayed/
So what will the homeless do? How will they be protected? What if the kids get sick? Many homes in Santa Ana don’t have ac, what are the families going to do with this heat?? I hope the city has thought about this.!!
So what are the homeless going to do?? How will they protect themselves? Most homes in Santa Ana don’t have ac, so how will the families deal with the heat ??
So what are the homeless going to do?? How will they protect themselves? Most homes in Santa Ana don’t have ac, so how will the families deal with the heat ??
its pretty fishy how it seems the most populated state is the only place I’ve heard that’s been affected with the virus I live in north Georgia moved here last year from santa ana and we have some of the biggest mosquitos I’ve ever seen and lakes and creeks that seem ideal for misquitos to infest yet no virus here . we also have some of the quietist military bases and it is a RED STATE . oh and not to mention latinos are the minority here. just seems odd that the state were latinos are majority is the only state affect to this extent. wake up people. big brother is on the move.
I’m a resident of French Park,I see the spring is postponed..yet the no parking signs are in place. So will people be ticketed if they park in.front of their houses for something that is not even happening??
The only thing this article has done is bring panic and not awareness to the residents of Santa Ana. To the people claiming Santa Ana is being targeted because of racial reasons: get off your high horse! The pesticide is there to do more good than harm. Faux news like this is why you can’t trust some paid-by-the-mayor blogger who just wants people to attack the council.
What you cannot deny is that the Vector Control District did a poor job of communicating the message. Sending a press release about Monday spraying on a Friday is not acceptable.
The editor is so clueless and paranoid thinking that “his” city is being targeted. Stop trying to stir shi!t up! In reality, Vector control is trying to prevent anyone else in Santa Ana from contracting the dangerous disease.
Adulticiding is necessary to kill flying adult mosquitoes that might otherwise bite you and transmit diseases. So they’re doing a good deed Protecting the people of Santa Ana.
Why Santa Ana? Well, bc Santa Ana is the hot zone for people getting infected with the virus. That city has the most human cases. People really have no clue of what’s going on and what measures are done to keep OC residents safe from mosquitoes. If vector control didn’t exist, you couldn’t step outside of your house without getting eaten alive by mosquitoes
Here ya go:
http://ochealthinfo.com/phs/about/dcepi/epi/disease/wn
Some real accurate facts and info!
Again the Vector Control District would have saved themselves a lot of trouble if they had communicated their plans at least a week in advance. This failure is theirs not mine.
Hmmm…maybe bc there’s no time to spare? People are getting the virus on a daily basis? I’m sure they gave enough that was needed.
Countywide there have been 91 cases with one fatality in Santa Ana. More people are dying of the common cold right now.
But if all of this was such an issue why was the Vector Control District so lame about communicating this with the public?
We have run a few press releases BTW from OC Health Care on this very topic. But going from warnings to spraying with almost zero notice is simply not good governance.
You should ask them.
I spoke to their director today. And I just posted an article by Mayor Pulido indicating that he is going to talk to city officials and to Vector Control to get to the bottom of all this.
Santa Ana is being sprayed not only bc we’re one of the cities out of three,GG and Anaheim,but because we’re Mexicans and no one reads the newspaper nor goes online to keep up with our local city?!And the state department well knows that we won’t speak up,especially now that it’s too late
Trying to get rid of the homeless.
There are alternative methods , see http://www.stop west milespraying now.org/evidence.hum
I got this reply from Sal Tinajero:
Thank you for your e-mail. Information was sent out. There were news releases, two council presentations and we reached out to SAUSD; but in today’s world it is difficult to reach everyone because many can pick and choose their own form of media. We have delayed the spraying but vector control will resume it. I urge you to see what the tests are showing about the West Nile Virus in Santa Ana.
In government one has to weigh all options and there are pros and cons to acting or not acting on the problem that faces us. We have already had one death and I don’t want another. I will weigh all options before moving forward on an item. If you could imagine, what if we did nothing? We would then be criticized for doing nothing and allowing West Nile to spread.
Sincerely,
Sal
Interesting response. I would imagine that 10 times as many people have died in this area of the common cold in the same time period.
Looking at the areas they want to spray it is possible that the Councilman who represents that area, David Benavides, could have gone door to door over the weekend and alerted everyone. However he was probably at the city marathon in Downtown Santa Ana on Saturday and most likely was relaxing on Sunday. What a lost opportunity for real outreach!
The areas being sprayed are in Benavides’ and Sarmiento’s wards.
By the way Stanley you should know that I have endorsed Mike Gonzalez for Ward 6.
The hell are they thinking?! I saw these statistics and there are more reported in the surrounding cities! Why Santa Ana? Maybe because there are 330,000 people here? Population control? I live by french park, one of the targeted areas. I understand people are being infected, but I know there are other safer means of preventing this type of virus.
Can’t anyone in charge do something about this? I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one against this.
No you’re not. City Hall was inundated with calls and emails over the weekend.
Do you know the current status of their current decision?
I missed a call from Mayor Pulido this morning as I was teaching. I’ll find out what I can and update this story later today.
Thanks! I’ll come back later to see it updated.
Do you happen to know the company involved?
Heard S.A. drainage system is cause of mosquitos, it’s in need of repair.
Interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised by that. The city’s infrastructure needs a lot of work.
300,000 Hispanics populating Santa Ana. Of course, these private companies want population control.
I just called Oc vector control and was advised the fumigation has been canceled for this week.
I am beyond upset. I never got a notice or so call phone call until 2hours ago that it was cancelled. If this wouldn’t have been cancelled my dog would be dead and who knows what type of cancer or side effects my kids or myself would have received if it occurred for the week!!!!
http://newsantaana.com/2014/09/08/how-we-stopped-the-mosquito-spraying-operation-in-santa-ana/
ANVIL (active ingredient: Sumithrin) is a synthetic pyrethroid insecticide, which may affect the
central nervous system.
Anvil contains 10% pipernyl butoxide. Sumithrin was shown to demonstrate significant
estrogenicity in a 1999 study.¹ at the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine. This means it may promote
tumor growth in cancers of the reproductive organs including breast cancer and prostate cancer.
1. Estrogenic and Antiprogestagenic Activities of Pyrethroid Insecticides. Biochemical and Biophysical Research
Communications, October 1998, vol.251, no.3, p.855-859.
Shame on the city for attempting such a controversial tactic without explicit knowledge and consent of the community!
The city should give out starter plants of citronella, marigold, basil, lemongrass, and catnip for residents to plant. All of these and more are proven natural repellents, look it up! They can also provide supplies and offer workshops on building affordable homemade non-toxic traps. There are so many better alternatives!
This form of treatment has been done in the past. After that big boom of birth defect and Down syndrome