Chester County

West Chester Borough asks County for notification of spraying to all schools

/ Nathaniel / Leave a comment

The following letter was presented to the County Commissioners at their Nov. 19 meeting by Borough Council member Bernie Flynn.

Borough of West Chester, 401 East Gay Street ▪ West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380, http://www.west-chester.com, 610-692-7574

Borough Council Diane LeBold, President; Michael R. Galey, Esq., Vice President; W. Donald Braceland; Bernard J. Flynn; Michael Stefano; Denise Polk, Ph.D.; William J. Scott, Esq.Mayor Dianne Herrin
Borough Manager Michael A. Perrone, C.B.O.

October 22, 2019

Chester County Commissioners, 313 West Market Street, Suite 6202, West Chester, PA 19380

RE: Notification Process on the Application of Pesticides and Herbicides

Dear Commissioners Kichline, Cozzone, and Farrell,

West Chester Borough Council voted at their September 18, 2019, Council meeting to urge the Chester County Commissioners to require notification to all schools and daycares prior to spraying pesticides and herbicides in the Borough of West Chester. Currently, only public schools are notified. Council believes that all charter, private, independent, and religious schools and daycare centers have a right to be notified prior to spraying pesticides and herbicides within 300 feet of their facility, just as public schools are.

The Borough of West Chester would appreciate your consideration of this request at your next Commissioners’ meeting. Council member Bernie Flynn plans to attend the meeting to follow up with you.

Best regards,

Michael A. Perrone, C.B.O., Borough Manager

C: Borough Council; Robert Kagel, County Administrator

What can we do to reduce the mosquito population?

/ Nathaniel / 3 Comments

Here is the enemy: larvae

But that photo shows mosquito larvae, which don’t bite.

Right, but once larvae hatch, they are harder to control. One female mosquito, with a protein infusion from blood, lays 100+ eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, which fly away as adults in a few days. Continue reading →

Mosquito spraying: why doesn’t the county want to talk about it?

/ mhudgings / 1 Comment

by Nathaniel Smith, The Times of Chester County, 8/31/15

County needs to answer questions about spraying program

By Nathaniel Smith, Columnist, The Times

NSmithColLogoThe Kennett Township web site has two running headers at the top: “Monarch Butterfly population decline” and “Mosquito Spraying by Chester County Health Department 8/19/2015.”

Could these two occurrences be connected, as with bee colonies and insect-eating bird populations being killed by neonicotinoid insecticides?

Neonicotinoids and permanone, the mosquito spray used by the County, are made by the same chemical company, Bayer; both kill insects beyond those targeted.

Suppose you were worried about the spraying plans. You’d download the map of the spray area at the Kennett Township web site. Oops, the map is of Oxford, not Kennett. The link to Chesco Health department web site doesn’t work either and when you do run the right page down, still only the Oxford map is there.

So let’s look at the Oxford map. Of course, since this insecticide is toxic to aquatic life, the map should show that any spraying would abide by the legal requirement to avoid areas within 100 feet of a stream, right? Actually the Oxford and Phoenixville spray maps show no cutout areas for waterways. So is the County respecting the 100-foot rule or not?…

read more at The Times of Chester County