Month: August 2017

‘Don’t Spray Me!’ holds rally in West Chester

/ Nathaniel / Leave a comment

by Bill Rettew, Daily Local News, 8/28/17

WEST CHESTER >> With a goal of eliminating chemical spraying for mosquitoes by local municipalities, more than two dozen activists rallied Saturday at the historic courthouse.

Several children were involved. They donned gas masks and held signs reading, “Don’t kill our bees and butterflies,” and “Sprayed pesticides harm pollination.”

The grassroots group, “Don’t Spray Me!” began in the borough three summers ago.

“We had a town meeting when we heard that they were going to spray,” state Rep. Carolyn Comitta, D-156, said. “People said ‘No.’ What can we do to avoid spraying?”

Comitta was mayor at the time and said that from those first steps, a West Nile task force committee was created in West Chester. For whatever reason, since the task force was formed, there has been no spraying for mosquitoes in West Chester….

read more at Daily Local News
Grassroots organization “Don’t Spray Me!” rallied at the Historic Chester County Courthouse in West Chester Saturday. BILL RETTEW JR. – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Grassroots organization “Don’t Spray Me!” rallied at the Historic Chester County Courthouse in West Chester Saturday. BILL RETTEW JR. – DIGITAL FIRST MEDIA

Advertisement

Mosquito control treatment scheduled for Phoenixville Borough to prevent West Nile Virus

/ Nathaniel / 1 Comment

[DSM needs citizen help in observing Health Department procedures and the results of spraying (which in general we oppose). Anyone in this spray area, please try to let us know:

• The release says “After exhausting all other available mosquito control strategies…” Do you know of other such strategies to date, such as working with the municipal government to educate residents, larviciding suspect bodies of standing water, or alerting property owners whose properties may be violating the Health Department’s regulation against allowing mosquitoes to breed in standing water?
• Are adequate warnings posted well in advance so residents and visitors will know to stay out of the way of the spray and take protective measures?
• Did you observe people who were not aware of the recommended precautions?
• Is there a lead truck with a loud speaker in front of the spray truck warning people to stay indoors or leave the vicinity?
• Does the truck spray more than once in any street or on any area? Does it crisscross any area, thus delivering a double dose to some addresses?
• Is the spray shut off as the truck approaches a stream or body of water and if so, how many feet away?
• After spraying, what difference do you notice in the number of mosquitoes and other insects such as honey bees and dragonflies?
• Did you notice any effect, either immediate or after a few days, on children, cats, frogs, birds, or bats?
• How long does it take for the adult mosquito population to get back to about what it was before?

DSM needs you to help protect people and the environment and to let public officials know what you think.]

press release, Chester County Health Department, 8/29/17

West Chester, PA – The Chester County Health Department, in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PA DEP), will conduct a mosquito control treatment spray in portions of Phoenixville Borough (map of treatment area). The treatment is scheduled for Thursday, August 31st from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm. The rain/makeup date for this event is Tuesday, September 5th from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm.

Ph'ville spray area 8:31:17

The Chester County Health Department conducts mosquito control treatment in areas with high levels of mosquito activity and where multiple mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). After exhausting all other available mosquito control strategies, spraying is conducted to reduce residents’ risk of WNV infection. Anyone living in an area where mosquitoes are infected with WNV is at risk, but the risk of infection is highest for people who work outside or participate in outdoor activities. Less than 1% of people infected will develop serious illness. While serious illness can occur in people of any age, people over 60 years of age, people who have received organ transplants, and people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease are at the greatest risk for serious illness.

The Chester County Health Department will use PA DEP equipment – a silver Ford Ranger affixed with the PA DEP logo and BU# BU2626 – to conduct the spray. A truck-mounted sprayer will apply 1.0 ounces of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved product (Biomist 3+15) per acre of land. A white GMC truck affixed with the Chester County Health Department logo with BU# BU1901 will be the lead truck. The mosquito control spray becomes inactive in just a few hours or with sunshine. Sprays are conducted after sunset, when mosquitoes are most active and bees have returned to their hives. Sprayers are turned off near bodies of water and apiaries to protect aquatic life and bees. The Chester County Health Department also notifies registered beekeepers and residents who are listed as hypersensitive in a designated spray area prior to conducting a spray. People who are concerned about exposure to mosquito control products can reduce their potential for exposure by staying indoors with children and pets when their neighborhood is being sprayed. If you would like to take extra precautions after the spray is completed, you can rinse off outdoor furniture or playground equipment before use.

Although spraying helps to reduce mosquito populations, the Chester County Health Department encourages residents to “Make You and Your Home a Bite-Free Zone” to prevent WNV and other mosquito-borne diseases….

[Standard Health Department advice follows, as in earlier releases.]

Don’t Spray Me / Sierra Club Demonstration against spraying

/ Nathaniel / Leave a comment

When: Saturday, August 26, at noon–right after the peace vigil

Where: Chester County Court House, High and Market Sts, West Chester

Who: All of us with State Rep. Carolyn Comitta and others addressing us

Why: The Chesco Health Department has produced no evidence that spraying reduces West Nile disease and we know it can kill bees and fish and harm people but still they are spraying anyhow! Costs are high, benefits lacking.

Latest municipalities targeted for spraying: Downingtown and East Caln, Thursday Aug. 24. If you live there, please see here and see if you can help us on the needed observations.

Next communities to be sprayed: who knows?

Educate and larvicide but Don’t Spray Us!

Please come and bring friends and relatives, and a sign if you can.

Mosquito control treatment scheduled for Downingtown Borough and East Caln Township to prevent West Nile Virus

/ Nathaniel / 1 Comment

[DSM note: This is not what we want to happen. The sprayers cite no evidence that spraying pesticides in the air impacts the incidence of West Nile Virus (of which there has been one known human case in PA so far this year). This large residential and business area in the center of Downingtown contains many dwellings and bodies of water. Anyone in that area, please try to observe and let us know:

• Are adequate warning posted well in advance so residents and visitors will know to stay out of the way of the spray and take protective measures?
• Did you observe people who were not aware of the recommended precautions?
• Is there a vehicle with a loud speaker in front of the spray truck warning people to stay indoors or leave the vicinity?
• Does the truck spray more than once in any street or on any area?
• Is the spray shut off as the truck approaches a stream or body of water and if so, how many feet away?
• After spraying, what difference do you notice in the number of mosquitoes and other insects such as honey bees and dragonflies?
• Did you notice any effect, either immediate or after a few days, on children, cats, frogs, birds, or bats?
• How long does it take for the adult mosquito population to get back to about what it was before?

DSM wants to help protect people and the environment but we can’t do it without volunteers on the ground to observe and let public officials know what you think.]

Press release, Chester County Health Dept., 7/22/17

West Chester, PA – The Chester County Health Department will conduct a mosquito control treatment spray in portions of Downingtown Borough and East Caln Township (map of treatment area).

The treatment is scheduled for Thursday, August 24th from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm. The rain date for this event is Monday, August 28th from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm.

The Chester County Health Department conducts mosquito control treatment in areas with high levels of mosquito activity and where multiple mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). After exhausting all other available mosquito control strategies, spraying is conducted to reduce residents’ risk of WNV infection. Anyone living in an area where mosquitoes are infected with WNV is at risk, but the risk of infection is highest for people who work outside or participate in outdoor activities. Less than 1% of people infected will develop serious illness. While serious illness can occur in people of any age, people over 60 years of age, people who have received organ transplants, and people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease are at the greatest risk for serious illness.

The Chester County Health Department uses a truck-mounted sprayer to apply 1.5 ounces of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved product (DeltaGard) per acre of land. The mosquito control spray becomes inactive in just a few hours or with sunshine. Sprays are conducted after sunset, when mosquitoes are most active and bees have returned to their hives. Sprayers are turned off near bodies of water and apiaries to protect aquatic life and bees. The Chester County Health Department also notifies registered beekeepers and residents who are listed as hypersensitive in a designated spray area prior to conducting a spray. People who are concerned about exposure to mosquito control products can reduce their potential for exposure by staying indoors with children and pets when their neighborhood is being sprayed. If you would like to take extra precautions after the spray is completed, you can rinse off outdoor furniture or playground equipment before use.

Although spraying helps to reduce mosquito populations, the Chester County Health Department encourages residents to “Make You and Your Home a Bite-Free Zone” to prevent WNV and other mosquito-borne diseases. Because mosquito-borne diseases are spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, residents can reduce their risk by using insect repellent and other personal protection and getting rid of standing water on their property…

read more for general advice at Chester County Health Department

Unity in Community Picnic: Sunday Sept. 3

/ Nathaniel / Leave a comment

N.b. as of 10 a.m., the forecast for 4-6 p.m. TODAY is: PARTLY SUNNY.

We cordially invite you to an end-of-summer Unity in Community Picnic, sponsored by the Sierra Club Sustainability Committee, Don’t Spray Me! and the West Chester Food Co-op–3 groups working together for people and the environment.

This celebration of growth–both in the number of Don’t Spray Me! supporters and in public consciousness of our message–will take place on Sunday, September 3, from 4 to 6 p.m., in Everhart Park, on the Union St. side, between S. Brandywine St. and S. Bradford Ave., West Chester Borough. (Rain date: Labor Day, Monday Sept. 4.)

We are happy to be able to offer free frozen yogurt for kids from Whirled Peace Frozen Yogurt, sponsored by DSM, Sierra Club, Carolyn and Tom Comitta, Margaret and Jim Hudgings, and Thriving Pets. Others are welcome to purchase frozen yogurt from the truck.

Come learn about Bat House-making, get the kids involved in fun environmental games, enjoy sample food from the Food Co-op, experience demonstrations such as Tai Chi and Yoga, see Sierra Club displays, and be in plenty of good company. Please bring your picnic and utensils.

We also commemorate the life of Graham Hudgings, an inspiration to our founding and all of our activities and a long-time sufferer from multiple chemical hypersensitivities, who tragically left us earlier this year.

For more information contact Margaret Hudgings at mhudgings@gmail.com/ or 610-692-3849.

Birmingham and Thornbury get 48-hour warning

/ Nathaniel / 1 Comment

[DSM note: This is not what we want to happen. This large residential area on both sides of route 202 in 2 townships contains many dwellings and several bodies of water and streams. Anyone in the area, please try to observe and let us know:

• Are adequate warning posted well in advance so residents and visitors will know to stay out of the way of the spray and take protective measures?
• Did you observe people who were not aware of the recommended precautions?
• Is there a vehicle with a loud speaker in front of the spray truck warning people to stay indoors or leave the vicinity?
• Does the truck spray more than once in any street or on any area?
• Is the spray shut off as the truck approaches a stream or body of water and if so, how many feet away?
• After spraying, what difference do you notice in the number of mosquitoes and other insects such as honey bees and dragonflies?
• Did you notice any effect, either immediate or after a few days, on children, cats, frogs, birds, or bats?
• How long does it take for the adult mosquito population to get back to about what it was before?]

Mosquito control treatment scheduled for Birmingham and Thornbury Townships

News release from Chester County Health Department, 8/8/17, 4:30 p.m.

The Chester County Health Department will conduct a mosquito control treatment spray in portions of Birmingham and Thornbury Townships (map of treatment area). The treatment is scheduled for Thursday, August 10th from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm. The rain date for this event is Tuesday, August 15th from 7:45 pm to 11:00 pm.

The Chester County Health Department conducts mosquito control treatment in areas with high levels of mosquito activity and where multiple mosquito samples have tested positive for West Nile Virus (WNV). After exhausting all other available mosquito control strategies, spraying is conducted to reduce residents’ risk of WNV infection. Anyone living in an area where mosquitoes are infected with WNV is at risk, but the risk of infection is highest for people who work outside or participate in outdoor activities. Less than 1% of people infected will develop serious illness. While serious illness can occur in people of any age, people over 60 years of age, people who have received organ transplants, and people with certain medical conditions such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and kidney disease are at the greatest risk for serious illness.

The Chester County Health Department uses a truck-mounted sprayer to apply 1.5 ounces of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-approved product (Permanone) per acre of land. The mosquito control spray becomes inactive in just a few hours or with sunshine. Sprays are conducted after sunset, when mosquitoes are most active and bees have returned to their hives. Sprayers are turned off near bodies of water and apiaries to protect aquatic life and bees. The Chester County Health Department also notifies registered beekeepers and residents who are listed as hypersensitive in a designated spray area prior to conducting a spray. People who are concerned about exposure to mosquito control products can reduce their potential for exposure by staying indoors with children and pets when their neighborhood is being sprayed. If you would like to take extra precautions after the spray is completed, you can rinse off outdoor furniture or playground equipment before use.

Although spraying helps to reduce mosquito populations, the Chester County Health Department encourages residents to “Make You and Your Home a Bite-Free Zone” to prevent WNV and other mosquito-borne diseases. Because mosquito-borne diseases are spread through the bite of an infected mosquito, residents can reduce their risk by using insect repellent and other personal protection and getting rid of standing water on their property….

read more for general advice at Chester County Health Department

If you are in the purple area on the downloaded map below, the plan is to spray you on Aug. 10 (the same area was sprayed on Sept. 12, 2016):

The importance of larviciding … including out of sight

/ Nathaniel / Leave a comment

In the 4-part mosquito life cycle*, the most vulnerable stage is the larva. Eggs are designed to survive, pupae don’t need to eat and their chief enemy would be rough water preventing them from breathing, and adults are elusive fliers and many survive even the most determined application of toxic chemicals.

But larvae depend on feeding on organic matter in unclean standing water. If they get too hot or cold, don’t find enough food, or can’t breathe regularly at the surface of calm water, they will develop into adults either slowly or not at all. Continue reading →