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 [email protected].