Hearing Scheduled on Effort to Combat Ants
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ORANGE COUNTY — A little-publicized public hearing today will help determine how state government combats the South American red fire ants that have invaded parts of Orange County.
Among approaches getting serious attention is the use of planes or helicopters to apply a pesticide in hopes of curbing ant reproduction.
The hearing may provide Orange County residents their only chance to comment before the state Department of Food and Agriculture unveils its plan, expected by the end of the month.
The department has not sent out notices to the public of today’s hearing, although a number of government agencies have been contacted, an agriculture spokesman said.
Informational meetings will be held when a plan is completed, department spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said. The discovery that fire ants have infested parts of Orange County has led to a countywide quarantine and worries that the ant will invade the rest of the West Coast.
The hearing is expected to run from 2 p.m. to at least 7 p.m. at the county Hall of Administration, Board Hearing Room, 10 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana.
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