11:50 -- Song about Malathion Sprayed on Population in San Jose, California, 1981. (I WAS THERE!)
Greg Stone, host and creator of the Sunday night radio show "STONE TREK", previously on KOME, KSJO, KLOS and KFOX from 1976 to 2009.
MALATH…
11:50 -- Song about Malathion Sprayed on Population in San Jose, California, 1981. (I WAS THERE!)
Greg Stone, host and creator of the Sunday night radio show "STONE TREK", previously on KOME, KSJO, KLOS and KFOX from 1976 to 2009.
MALATHION SCAM >> JULY 16, 1981 -- SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Five helicopters sprayed the pesticide malathion over 10,133 acres today in a escalated aerial attack on the Mediterranean fruit fly which has already caused $4.2 million in produce losses over a three-county zone the state calls a 'major disaster area.'
Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr. asked President Reagan for federal aid, saying the state's $14 billion agricultural industry faces 'economic disaster' unless it receives help in battling the spreading Medfly infestation. The insect, which so far has hit ripening fruit the hardest, is capable of destroying 200 varieties of fruits and vegetables.
It has not yet spread over a mountain range to the state's big central valleys, heartland of California agriculture. The infestation and quarantine remain confined to a three-county suburban region around the southern shores of San Francisco Bay.
Five helicopters, three grounded part of the night because of fog, finished spraying at 6 a.m., covering about half of the 40 square miles targeted in the third aerial assault on the insect. Two previous night pesticide drops by lone helicopters sprayed only 12 square miles because of mechanical problems.
Officials said the two biggest choppers from a secret base dropped most of the pesticide because of various problems but that they hoped to have six copters in the air by the end of the week.
A 120-square mile area was to be sprayed in six applications over a two month period, but the target zone could be expanded with new larvae finds.
Brown sent a letter Wednesday to Reagan asking that Alameda, Santa Clara and San Mateo counties be declared disaster areas and seeking federal financial aid in fighting the infestation. 'Helicopters aren't cheap,' he said.
The governor said 11,000 farms, ranches and businesses in the area have suffered economic losses of about $4.2 million. 'Unless the infestation is quickly controlled, these losses will escalate to approximately $93 million.'
