The Forum

Steve,

As someone who was out on his upper porch at 6AM in a semi-dazed, uncaffeinated state, with digital camera in hand, I must say it would have been a nice gesture to let us residents know what was going on earlier in the week! In this day and age, unfortunately, the mind wanders to more than a few scary scenarios when there is a plane spraying an unknown substance overhead at such an early hour!

Now that the facts are known, death to the gypsy moths; I mean, look what happened to Pinocchio with gypsies, right? :-D

I can't imagine why so little respect is shown for residents. Why weren't we informed of the spraying so that people could choose to take precautions to guard their health? There are people in this town with lung conditions, allergies, and sensitivities to chemicals.

I wonder how such a spraying would be authorized.  Would this be at the county level?  State?

In regard to the health hazards of the spraying, I checked this site:

http://tinyurl.com/mytm3

B.t.k. is not considered toxic for people, animals, birds, fish, and other insects such as bees and ladybugs. Also, it does not harm water supplies. Despite widespread use, B.t.k. has not been shown to cause infections in persons exposed through aerosol spraying either in the general population, children, or people with immune system disorders.

A small number of persons have reported symptoms including skin rash, irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, and hay fever-like symptoms after exposure to B.t.k. It is not known whether exposure to B.t.k. was responsible for the symptoms; however it is possible that these symptoms might be related to allergic reactions or irritation to a component of the pesticide spray.

Call me a cynic, but when a branch of local government uses the passive voice to express that a pesticide is nontoxic, I don't buy it. Furthermore, people with lung problems, sensitivities, and allergies deserve to know when pesticides are going to be dumped on them and their lawns. Yes, if you're going to spray, do it in the early morning or the wee hours, but to not inform citizens is deeply disrespectful.