Bifenthrin is a pyrethroid insecticide (thus in the same family as permethrin) which kills many insects (and of course it can’t tell the difference between spotted lantern flies or mosquitoes and bees and butterflies), toxic to fish, banned for agricultural use in the European Union.

And now our own state government is spraying it around us. The Department of Agriculture’s May 28 release begins:

“As Spotted Lanternflies hatch across much of the state, PA Department of Agriculture crews have begun to spray an insecticide that kills the insects on contact along railways, interstates and other transportation rights-of-way. Contact spraying is a new element of strategic efforts to slow the spread of the invasive pest, which moves primarily by hitching a ride on vehicles traveling out of infested areas….”

Well, good luck with that. It’s intriguing to picture the spotted lantern fly hordes lining up along route 30 to hitch a ride to the central part of the state. But how will spraying at the verge of a highway affect any SLFs that have already stowed away in the underneath and under-the-hood areas of trucks?

According to state law, people on the Hypersensitivity Registry list must receive advance notification of spraying within 500 feet of the residential, school, or employment locations they indicate. It’s hard to see how the law can be complied with in spraying at the side of a road, especially when the sprayer won’t tell us where they are spraying. Suppose a hypersensitive driver pulls over to change a tire or take a break?

And we have also learned that 13 non-highway locations in Chester County will be sprayed. For whatever reason, the Department of Agriculture has not chosen to publicly mention this aspect of its spraying program and does not publicly identify these locations. But here they are, so act accordingly:

L F Lambert Spawn Co Inc. 1507 Valley Rd., Coatesville

Lampart Limited Partnership, 1021 Charles St., Coatesville

Keehn Service Real Estate Limited, 99 Eleventh Ave., Coatesville

Old Coop, 1189 Old Schuylkill Rd., East Coventry

September Farm Cheese, 5287 Horseshoe Pike, Honey Brook

LCM-Mar Enterprises Llc, 749 Norway Rd., Kennett

Kennett Square Borough, 120 Marshall St., Kennett Square

New Garden Township, 1235 Newark Rd., New Garden

Shainline John J & Phyliss, E 800 Township Line Rd., Phoenixville

Clementine Realty, 35 Industrial Blvd., Tredyffrin

2480 LLC, 45 W Industrial Blvd., Tredyffrin

Pacer Industries Inc., 14 Laurel St., Valley

Codepeco Assoc, 1220 Wilson Dr., West Goshen