The California agriculture department has authorized nighttime aerial pesticide spraying on the San Francisco Bay Area this summer in an attempt to eradicate a potentially crop-destroying moth. Similar spraying was done in two other counties this fall, after which more than 600 residents complained of respiratory problems. Application of the pesticide, called Checkmate, was only authorized for agricultural areas until the U.S. Department of Agriculture received an “emergency exemption” from the U.S. EPA for its use in urban California. The Bay spray would begin June 1 and could continue for up to five years, though residents are organizing to stop it.
