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Aren't they supposed to tell you before they spray for mosquitoes?

By adamg on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 10:24pm

Heard a weird whining sound heading down our Roslindale/Hyde Park street just now. Looked out the window just in time to see a white pickup going by at a moderate clip with some sprayer thing in the back pumping out some sort of mist. I assume/hope it was for mosquitoes (Roslindale being next to the West Nile reservoir that is JP and the giant marsh that is West Roxbury). The pipe was pointed at the other side of the street, so I figure it'll be coming back this way aimed at us in a bit.

Did I miss the notices? Wouldn't some advance warning be good for people with respiratory issues who might have their windows open on a summer night or people who like to barbecue (yes, with the proviso there are likely to be few barbecues at 10:25 p.m.)? Last month, somebody from the county mosquito control project told the Bulletin residents are notified in advance. Maybe I missed the signs (that weren't posted on the light poles) or something.

Neighborhoods: 
Roslindale
Free tagging: 
mosquitoes


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Comments

By NotWhitey on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 11:10pm.

That's not bug spray - it's the Vote Menino gas.

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By JohnAKeith on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 11:28pm.

Yes, I heard whining coming from your street, too.

Joking!

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By anon on Wed, 08/26/2009 - 11:52pm.

the mayor's office tells me that is run out of suffolk county.

i left my house for 30 minutes with the fan on. when i got back it smelled like raid. jesus christ. that shit is poison. I would have closed up the house if i had been notified.

you can call and complain: 617-361-0550 suffolk county

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By anon on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 12:14am.

Mr. Bruce Landers, Superintendent
Suffolk County Mosquito Control Project
36 Industrial Drive Hyde Park, MA 02136
http://www.mass.gov/agr/mosquito/suffolk.htm

Dear Mr Landers:

I was out of the house from 10:30 to 11:00PM August 26. I left my fan on to cool my home. When I returned my entire home smelled like Raid bug spray. It is especially strong in my kitchen where the air comes through the screens.

Did Suffolk County Mosquito Control Project spray pesticides in my neighborhood last night, August 26?

Did you notify residents so that they could take precautions for themselves and their pets? If so, how?

I have a massive headache from breathing this crap. My eyes are watering. If I knew you were spraying, I would have shut off the fan, closed the windows and brought the dog in.

I am not alone in wondering about this: http://www.universalhub.com/node/27236

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By anon on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 3:16pm.

-----Original Message-----
From: [Suffolk County Mosquito Control Project]
Sent: Thursday, August 27, 2009 2:31 PM
To: [redacted]
Subject: Re: Does Mosquito Control notify residents before spraying poison in the neighborhoods?

Dear [redacted],

SCMCP sprayed your neighborhood on 08/26/09. This was the first time this season your street was treated. This was done because mosquitoes in W. Roxbury, as determined by trap data, were at a very high level. We had just received a request from a neighbor to treat the streets just north of yours. There was an article earlier this summer on mosquitoes in the Bulletin newspaper with our phone number. Each time we do truck spraying we leave a message on our answering machine for those persons who wish to know where we are spraying that night. We also notify the Mayor's Hotline and the Boston Public Health Commission and include maps of the spray area.

You may wish to be listed as a no spray. Legally, this needs to be done before the season,but we will honor your request now. You would only be a no spray with SCMCP, but not with other groups that apply pesticides. For that, you will need to apply for legal no spray status for the 2010 season. Your neighborhood was treated with a product called Anvil, a synthetic pyrethroid that we dilute with soybean oil. It has far less odor than products used years ago.

(please e-mail your house number if you wish exclusion.)

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By Harry Mattison on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 6:43am.

There was also unannounced spraying recently in Allston. For more info see:

http://groups.google.com/group/ABNNF/browse_thread...

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By anon on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 7:38am.

I fondly recall romping around in the mosquito fogging trucks cloudy wake as a child. I am guessing they used DDT in the early 60's.

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By Suldog on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 8:13am.

... you can't remember your name?

Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com

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By bph on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 9:10am.

They spray every year and I've never been notified. The trucks are so loud that you usually get a few minutes to run around and close windows.

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By HenryAlan on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 9:32am.

I don't know whether they sprayed or not, but I've had a severe allergy attack which started the minute I stepped outside this morning. Something is different in the air.

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By anon on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 10:33am.

On Hopedale St [July 31] around 10:30pm I was sitting on my front porch enjoying the night air, a beverage and eating popcorn I heard an unusual beeping tone so I stepped to the curb to see what the beeping raucous was all about. Within 5 second this yellow pickup with two noozles about 7ft high shooting a 10ft long strong mist two direction spewing some chemical. It passed by me spraying me and my house before I could say the X#$@ At the intersection of Hopedale and Windom it made U turn and backed into the dead end of Hopedale, idling for a moment and spraying while giving that area quite the dose. It circle the Windom - Amboy - Seattle block. I retreated indoor shortly after my dousing to peer out an see the chemical machine pass my house again then taking a left whizzing up Windom toward Western Ave.

The lesson here: If you hear a unusual beeping sound getting closer - run inside and close your windows.

I didn't receive any notice/warning. I couldn't find anything of the cityofboston.gov site except for some March09 documents re: A March deadline to be exempted from Mosquito spraying.

It would have been respectable to have received a warning or a flyer so I could have minimize the ingestion.

Disrespected again? or was there a notice?

Irritated
Jeff

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By anon on Thu, 08/27/2009 - 3:45pm.

sent today:

Dear Suffolk County Mosquito Control Project

Thank you for your prompt response, and thank you for the work you do protecting residents from the West Nile Virus.

I would like Suffolk County Mosquito Control Project and the City of Boston and perhaps the Boston Public Health Commission to determine a more effective way of notifying residents when their neighborhoods are going to be sprayed with pesticides, so that we can minimize our individual, our family, and our pet’s exposure to these neurotoxins.

It is impractical and unreasonable for me to call SCMCP, or City of Boston’s Mayor Line, or the Boston Public Health Commission every evening in the summer in order to find out if SCMCP is going to spray my neighborhood that evening.

If SCMCP can determine a schedule in advance it could use the press to notify and a website to get the schedule out. In other words, put the notice in the press and a reference to the schedule posted on the Internet. If you determine where you will spray only a few days in advance, then you must use the media to communicate those specific locations. Either way, it is not unreasonable for citizens to ask to receive notice before their neighborhoods are sprayed with neurotoxins so that they (we) can minimize our exposure.

Please contact me and inform me if SCMCP can provide a solution to my request other than the one’s you’ve offered below. I understand it may take some time if you need to escalate it and coordinate with other agencies. Thank you for you public service. I appreciate it.

cc:
City of Boston, Mayor’s Office
Boston Public Health Commission

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