Aerial Spraying Returns to Park Cities Tonight
Just got off the phone with UP’s Steve Mace, who said both Highland Park and University Park will be aerially sprayed again tonight. No official word on the time, but UP residents should expect a Code Red alert sometime later today, Mace said.
On another note, there were still a lot of mosquitos around this weekend, amiright?
Update: 8:30 p.m., per Dallas County.
My husband and I both got several mosquito bites over the weekend. We used the Off spray too.
So University Park is now the official spokesperson for HP? I’m Chuckling (no disrespect UP). What is interesting, where is HP’s town manager and parks director? Is HP going to get the infamous “problem?” response? HP sure is relying on too many governments, are we even a town?
Instead of relying on the government folks (i.e HP), you probably need to invest and spend some $$ on calling “real” experts like Texas A&M University. With no disrespect, please stop playing business and get down to business.
Time is wasting.
Yes, they seem like they are increasing again. The scary thing is they are in the cars and houses. Why oh why is it so much worse in the Park Cities?? If I read one more letter to the editor in the DMN advising us to just use OFF and citronella candles I think I will scream! We have no standing water yet we have been bombarded with mosquitoes all spring/summer. So bad that we cannot use our yard on most days. What the heck are we to do?? I hate the aerial spraying but I’m not sure what the answer is. My son was in the front yard last night for about 10 minutes and was bitten twice.. We were out of town for 3 days and when we returned I was bitten twice in the house checking my email at my computer desk.
Whether you’re pro or con . . .
My understanding is that any application of pesticide is gonna hopefully kill most of the targets, but will necessarily always leave a small percentage that happen to be genetically immune. Which means those immune ones are the ones left to breed. And the life cycle of a mosquito is merely a week (males) to a month (females). So how are we NOT supposed to expect a swift, pesticide-resistant rebound?
My yard was a dead zone the morning after the first spraying, but now they’re back like nothing happened — which means I’m off to Home Depot to buy some poison spray of my own.
Sam, settle down and put your tinfoil hat back on.
I guess all those dead fish in Turtle Creek were really from the storm? We’ve had storms before with no dead fish. Now the excuses begin.
OK I guess I’ll put the tinfoil hat on. Thanks for the advice, and, about as good of job from HP Town Hall, hey? I would like to have my property GPS’d and opted out of the chemical spray, thanks.
Thank goodness I summer in Napa.
A big part of the problem is obviously excessive lawn watering. Despite the two decent rains we have had in the past week, our next door neighbors (on both sides) continue to water their yards every single day – twice a day.
I’m not saying that we have replaced our yard with rocks and cacti, but we have cut back watering significantly. Everyone needs to ease up on the watering so the mosquitoes to have as many places to breed.
According to Dallas Voice, they are spraying the pesticide Duet. This is from the label of Duet:
This product is toxic to aquatic organisms, including fish and aquatic invertebrates.
Runoff from treated areas or deposition of spray droplets into a body of water may be
hazardous to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply over bodies of water (lakes,
rivers, permanent streams, natural ponds, commercial fish ponds, swamps, marshes
or estuaries), except when necessary to target areas where adult mosquitoes are present,
and weather conditions will facilitate movement of applied material beyond the
body of water in order to minimize incidental deposition into the water body. Do not
contaminate bodies of water when disposing of equipment rinsate or wash waters.
Well Sam, they didn’t spray earlier in the summer (July 5th)when there were dead fish in Caruth Park and Turtle Creek. Please explain what HP/ UP government decision caused that to happen.
Here’s a quote regarding spraying in Sacremento in 2005. Read what the CDC said about it:
Local health officials resorted to aerial spraying because the land-based tactic, using trucks, failed to control a severe epidemic of West Nile Virus. Was it an effective response? Here’s what researchers concluded, in a study published by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 2008:
“Our findings….indicate that aerial application of pyrethrin in 2005 successfully disrupted the [West Nile Virus] transmission cycle, and that this treatment was responsible for an abrupt decrease in the number of human cases within treated areas compared with that in the untreated area. These results provide direct evidence that aerial spraying to control adult mosquitoes effectively reduced human illness and potential deaths from WNV infection.”
@UPDad: AGREED; @XT: Sacramento’s population is about 500,000; Highland Park’s population is around 9,000+ and about 2.2 sq. miles. A big difference.
HP has many advantages in that it’s size is very manageable. If HP town leaders deployed purchases to our own spraying equipment, at least we would know what is being sprayed. Better planning, virus preventative spraying, and a little heads up could have given a BIG start with this crises or any. But, you know, when town leaders fall asleep, then…?
For the HP Mayor and HP council to allow a poison filled airplane to bomb HP residents is shameful. Duet is poison. It is poison any way you scrabble the word poison. If HP leadership is so concerned and are in this “battle”, then why have spraying trucks not been deployed night after night and continuosly sprayed?
Best wishes,
Burleson Park must be ground zero for the mosquito population. I feel sorry for all the SMU kids coming back to school. I saw where several houses surrounding the park have resorted to giant bug zappers.
@Sam Tamborello: I’ve always been told not to argue with the twitchy guy on the subway but I’ll bite. Are you saying that trucks spraying this “poison” are preferable to the planes….somehow, for some reason?
My head hurts.
Now Neal..take a deep breath. Highland Park, Texas should explore, and should have explored, SAFER mosquito-spraying-methods and product. Let’s hire some folks who can give better ideas, than to load up the planes and broadcast poison. Yes, that is what I’m saying.
Sam – Do you really need someone to explain why truck spraying every night is neither necessary or advisable?
According to the Dallas Morning News, HP officials say that the dead fish were a result of the storm the night before causing a sudden rise, and then fall, of the water level, stranding the fish on land. To be honest, I don’t know where I stand these days on the Aerial spraying. I’m starting to just file it all off as a lose-lose situation.
@Sam. All of the members of the HP town council live in HP. All are educated individuals who care enough to be in the town council. I totally get how there could be some fishy things going on with town contracts and zoning, but i don’t see what benefit the council would have from supposedly poisoning their own town (including themselves). Are you claiming that they are idiots or evil-bad-guys?
i’ve been swarmed by mosquitoes in my yard every summer i can remember. i dont think iti s any different this year, except for the # of west nile cases
@Rico, .. I’m glad its raining outside, because I’m glad to respond to the questions. Well, according to folks, the mosquitoes are getting aggressive and seem to be still around. Skeeters may even be growing bigger (laugh a little).
Despite what is being sprayed (but that is an issue for me), if this West Nile virus is a threat in HP, then yes, why are the spray trucks not hitting our streets and alleys too? This is a deadly virus, and yes, spray in long enough stretches until the skeeters are all dead. A couple of sprays by “The Planes” are not going to solve this issue. If it’s a battle, then take them mosquitoes out. Lets do it more safely.
Sam,
I missed your response on the fish. Was it the spraying (as you alluded to), or not? If so, what caused the fish to die in July before the spraying?
And what exactly does the size of Sacremento as it relates to HP have to do with this? And last I looked, mosquitoes don’t recognize town boundaries, and they sprayed all of Dallas, which is much bigger than Sacremento.
More confusion. First you were opposed to spraying, now they should be doing more spraying from trucks and planes. As to safer spraying, can you illustrate some examples of other cities (again, this is a national epidemic) that have used safer sprays that have worked?
Now XT, I say this chuckling…so many questions from you. Just yesterday I believe I recall you calling me a name. What was it….oh yes, let me think……you called me “A Fool?” (still chuckling)
If you believe I’m a fool, then why ask me so many questions and even listen, hey? (said in humor) Watch out for those mosquitoes!
Sam,
I would like to know your opinions. Let’s say that you were elected and represented HP in making key decisions. Next June, we have a lot of mosquitos with a handful of West Nile cases in the Dallas area.
– Do you send trucks out to spray nightly/weekly to prevent a West Nile outbreak? How much would you be willing to spend on that?
– Do you bring in consultants to evaluate the problem and suggest alternative chemicals? How much would you be willing to spend on that?
– Do you limit the water usage of residents?
– If none of the solutions worked and the outbreak became larger, would you ask for help from the city of Dallas or are we a small enough size that we can manage on our own?
come on, @CZ, we all know you are not going to vote
Sam, Sam, Sam. You have, on many occasions, criticized the folks in HP for ignoring a problem they have known about for years, refusing to spray preventatively and unnecessarily exposing HP citizens to aerial poison applications (while lamenting the lack of constant daily truck spraying). Your allegation that a serious health threat was ignored by an out of touch town council just didn’t sound right. A quick check of the State Department of Health website confirmed my suspicions. In the period from 2009 through 2011, there were, on average, 13.3 cases of West Nile Fever and 60.3 cases of West Nile Neurological Disease in the entire State of Texas. During that same three year period in Dallas County, there were, on average, 1 case of WNF and 4.2 cases of WNND (no info on where the cases arose within Dallas County). To date (however current the SDH stats are) this year, there have been 263 cases of WNF and 323 cases of WNND statewide. In 2011 there were no Dallas County cases of WNF and 1 reported WNND case. In 2010, zero in both categories in Dallas County. So far in 2012, there have been 66 reported WNF cases (more than the last 3 years combined statewide) and 112 WNND disease cases in Dallas County (double the statewide 3 year average). There have been 15 WN deaths in Dallas County this year, 21 statewide to date. There were 2 in 2011, 7 in 2010 and 9 in 2009 – statewide. At the rate we are going the Dallas County death toll will exceed the total number of statewide deaths for the past 3 years combined.
Put simply, there was no local state of emergency in HP or Dallas County last year, in 2010 or ever, that required extraordinary measures. Truck spraying in response to a non-existent problem would have been soundly (and rightfully) criticized as wasteful spending and sensless ecological malfeasance. No one can truthfully deny that there is, however, a serious current problem.
So I ask – why do you believe the HP government was negligent in failing to treat for WN in 2009, 2010 and 2011? What other less harmful spray is out there to fight the epidemic? What proof, other than timing, do you have that the Turtle Creek fish kill was related to aerial spraying? Why do you criticize as irresponsible the aerial spraying while at the same time decrying the lack of truck spraying? Do you concede that aerial spraying has a much greater range of coverage than truck spraying?
What proof do you have of disastrous after-effects of aerial spraying with Duet?
Looking forward to your response.
Rico, a week or so ago, I called you “not smart”. I wish I hadn’t and would like to take it back. Aside from my comment just being in poor taste, I’ve found your other comments to be thoughtful, informed, and insightful. For that matter, I usually find Sam’s posts to also be valuable.
As I said above, I’m having difficulty figuring out if aerial spraying is good or bad. I’ve seen studies or reports from supposed experts referred to here that indicate that aerial spraying actually does little good–that the mosquito population rebounds within a day or two. Certainly Bradford’s original post indicates that he has not seen much difference (nor have I). On the other hand, XT showed something from Sacramento saying that it DID make a difference. Some people say that Duet is simply Chrysanthenum oil, harmless to humans. Others say that it can have serious effects, including increased likelihood of Parkinson’s disease. Even the manufacturers say it is very harmful to cats and fish, and that we shouldn’t risk eating anything that has come in contact with it. That stuff sounds fairly scary to me.
Sounds like (as with many issues) there are “experts” who can throw out a lot of data and studies to support both sides. How more confusing can this thing get?
Both cities need watering restrictions. The 2 cities with the most problems have no watering restrictions. Not watering between 10 a.m. & 6 p.m.IS NOT a restriction. 2 days a week would be ok.
Sorry – meant to say that there have been 11 Dallas County WN deaths so far this year.
Rico, If I am “a fool” like your co-blogger “XT” has claimed, then why be ruffled and listen. But looking around my office sir, I see an award to me from Highland Park for… what was it? yes,…um..let me quote for you…
To Sam Tamborello…”In grateful recognition of your valuable contribution….your decision to become involved….stands as an example to all of your courage, citizenship, and willingness to make a difference in the community.”
Better yet, I just received another recent letter of commendation a few months ago regarding my willingness to make a difference county wide.
Rico, what about you and your fellow anonymous bloggers hiding behind your funny blog names barking and spewing questions and doing research? Which only shows that you would wait until HP was hit with a crises until action taken. Mosquitoes carry diseases in any year sir.
How about spray with a safer product every year with our town’s own equipment? I’ll pass on ANOTHER aiplane over the town. Do I recall reading somewhere recently that our current mayor complained about airplanes and noise from Love Field?
for pete’s sake,
can’t we all just get along?
Sam and UPDad, you, understandably, have me confused with the current Rico. As my name suggests, I used to post under Rico. Someone else decided to use the name. No big deal, as I had decided to cut back on my postings. Heck, I’ll admit that one of the things that draws me back to this blog is the possibility of an entertaining Sam post. I’ll change my name again to avoid further misunderstandings.
Sam, I never called you a fool (and don’t see that anyone else has on this thread), but you do toss molotov cocktails with your allegations and then fail to offer anything to validate your claims. I just want to know if there is any factual support for your accusations. Please answer the questions (all of which relate to claims you have made) and let’s continue the debate or admit that you have no logical answers.
@Sam,
For the record, here is how I came to call you a fool: You stated “if that makes me a fool, then so be it”. To which I responded, “no, not realizing that UP4me was being sarcastic (saying he doesn’t understand why everyone doesn’t fly their planes to Colorado to avoid West Nile) makes you a fool. Not exactly an attack post. But you keep feeling sorry for yourself.
Still waiting for any answers to my or any other questions.
Sam, bless your heart. You are so proud of that award. And you worked so hard for everyone of those 42 votes you got for mayor this year. Good for you!
But you still haven’t answered CZ’s or XT’s questions.
It must be tiring changing the blog name, again? How do you keep up? I bet some blog names talk back and forth to each other with the same author (i’m chuckling).
@XT: Really?
Still wish I hadn’t said Rico was “not smart”–regardless of which one I was talking to!
No Sam, a few keystrokes really doesn’t have any effect on me. Don’t you have some questions to answer or should we just conclude from your refusal that you don’t have any evidence to back up your inflammatory assertions?
C’mon Sam, we’re burnin’ daylight while waiting on your words of wisdom.
Formerlyknownasrico
Sam, I would appreciate answers to my questions and the others too. This is a chance for you to expand upon your views and answer the tough questions that other politicians are afraid to answer. Sure, some of us will agree or disagree, but I am all for a healthy debate instead of changing the subject and resorting to name calling.
OH MY GOSH, what do I do?? Answer Sam, answer….and I love the 42 vote comment. Noise is really getting loud!
Yes, really.
What should you do? Stop putting your foot in your mouth, for starters.
Has anyone ever read something and your FUNNYBONE inside goes off? When I first read this in the Park Cities People last Friday, my eye brow raised so high on my forehead that it went into my scalp. I will quote…
“The disaster declaration was urged by county and state officials, said UP city manager Bob Livingston, in an attempt to secure federal funds for this spraying.” “The state, the county, the federal government – they study this stuff…”
Well, from what I understand, in the early 1960’s the government told folks that DDT was safe. Then DDT was found to cause human cancer and was banned. Am I right?
I read something very interesting, that I had no idea about, nor do I recall any forewarning by Highland Park officials about this. I understand that DUET, the mosquito pesticide sprayed on the entire town (twice) has a chemical called SUMITHRIN. Am I correct? In tests, SUMITHRIN, a synthetic pyrethroid, has been shown to damage human kidneys and the liver, and is linked to causing both liver and breast cancer. Now, I simply do not recall being given any Notice of this whatsoever.
I have also jogged in Highland Park for almost 10 years now, and I have yet to recall one mosquito on me. I jog today well over (4) four miles + each day for approx. 6 days a week and have never noticed or felt a mosquito on me. I have also been to Lakeside several times after floods and storms and have NEVER recalled seeing hundreds of DEAD fish like the photo circulated by the Park Cities Bubble Life News recently. At the very least, and over my ten years of residency in HP, I have maybe seen a few very large fish in the grass after storms, in which I put back into Lake Exall. And I know, folks will point to UP, but hey, folks question stuff, you know?
I simply would never have allowed the spaying of poison over the town and residents, never in a jillion years. Spray with a safer product, HP is only 2.2 sq. miles. And you don’t need me to tell you with what. If the Town of Highland Park would like for me to give my take (in which I recall HP has in the past on other issues) then they know how to contact me. I am always available to my town 24/7.
I believe this blogger named “JBW” on August 16, 2012 at 8:26 pm said soemthing of interest:
“…., yes, I do agree with you that my suggestions don’t help in the short-term. But so often, we know there are problems ahead & yet don’t start working on solutions until it’s too late. It seems to me that preventative measures are better than waiting until the last minute & then using the most drastic (and still short-term) solutions.
http://www.parkcitiespeople.com/2012/08/14/residents-petition-dallas-to-put-kibosh-on-sprayings/
Folks, I don’t care about the “Sam this, Sam that” comments, I’ve been involved with many Public Safety measures in HP for many years. I don’t need to point out each and every success, but they are enjoyed every day by folks and that is all that matters. And yes, I am very proud of an award I received from Highland Park, because, I got involved, risked my own life, and probably saved someone elses life or a neighbor. I thank God for blessing “my little heart” and keeping me safe. Hey?
Here is the other link I went to and found interesting.(courtesy of the PCP).
http://www.change.org/petitions/dallas-stop-the-spray-combat-mosquitoes-the-intelligent-way
I would personally like to know at all times when and where this DUET is being sprayed by HP. I will pass on inhaling it, and I would prefer it is not sprayed onto my home. Thank you and I wish everyone the best.