Notice of Aerial Larval Control Application-2020
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
The State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board
Norfolk County Mosquito Control District
144 Production Road, Suite C, Walpole, MA 02081
(781) 762-3681 fax: (781) 769-6436
Robin L. Chapell Norman P. Jacques Maureen P. MacEachern Linda R. Shea Richard J. Pollack, PhD
Commissioners
David A. Lawson
Director
Caroline E. Haviland
Field Operations Manager
To: Boards of Health
From: David A. Lawson, Director,
Norfolk County Mosquito Control District
Date: April 6, 2020
Re: Notice of Aerial Larval Control Application
In accordance with 333 CMR 13.04 (7) (a & b), please consider this as notification of the pending aerial application targeting mosquito larvae in the wetlands in the District.
The Norfolk County Mosquito Control District will be conducting helicopter applications of the biorational larvicide Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) to control mosquito larvae. These applications will be conducted over specific large wetlands in the Towns of:
Avon/Bellingham/Braintree/Canton/Dedham/Dover/Foxboro/Franklin/
Holbrook/Medfield/Medway/Millis/Milton/Needham/Norfolk/Norwood/
Plainville/Quincy/Randolph/Sharon/Stoughton/Walpole/Westwood/
Weymouth/Wrentham
These applications will be conducted over a likely 2 to 4-day window, lasting only 2 days, anytime between April 13, 2020, and April 27, 2020. As always, the weather in the spring is unpredictable. For this reason, the District cannot pin down actual application dates with any more accuracy at this time. We will send out further notices as the application date approaches.
The trade name of the granular formulation of Bti to be used is VectoBac GR (EPA Reg. #73049-486). This is not a “spray”. For further information contact David A. Lawson, Director at (781) 762-3681 or the Boards of Health in the towns listed above. Information is also available on line at www.norfolkcountymosquito.org
In light of the Covid-19 outbreak and all the complications surrounding that, the NCMCD has decided to alter our ‘normal’ aerial application this year. We will be removing some wetlands that have edges that very closely abut neighborhoods. The intent of this change is to create a bit more of a buffer between the helicopters and the homes. We receive very few ‘complaints’ each time we conduct these applications, but one of the most common complaints is about the low flying helicopters over homes. With stress levels already heightened, and more folk’s home during the application, we felt this was a prudent step to take. Based on the best science we have before us, this reduction in acreage will likely have no effect on the outcomes of EEE and WNv this summer. This application is primarily an application to control the emergence of spring nuisance mosquitoes
Respectfully submitted
David Lawson
Director