SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCBS/CBS5) -- FRESNO, Calif. (KCBS/AP) _ Officials are suspending California's aerial spraying program to combat a crop-eating moth in urban areas, after environmentalists sued raising concerns about the pesticide's effects on human and ecological health.
Secretary of Food and Agriculture A.G. Kawamura says the state has canceled all plans to send up planes to spray a pheromone to fight the light brown apple moth in urban areas throughout the state.
Hundreds of people complained of feeling sick when planes applied the first round of spray in the area surrounding Monterey and Santa Cruz last fall.
Two counties and an environmental group sued the state, saying Kawamura broke state law by authorizing the aerial campaign without the benefit of environmental review.
Santa Cruz Assemblyman John Laird
