Hundreds turn out for mosquito hearing

MOSES LAKE — Hundreds of people attended the state Department of Ecology (DOE) hearing concerning a draft permit related to spraying pesticides for adult mosquitoes Tuesday afternoon.

So many people attended, the conference room at the Moses Lake Fire Department overflowed into their outdoor courtyard and a second meeting was scheduled later the same day.

Outside people were asking the DOE questions about the permitting process while inside people listened to a presentation and gave testimony about the proposed permit.

Outside the fire department, a crowd formed around DOE Water Quality Program Manager Bill Moore as he answered questions from several visibly frustrated people. People in the crowd included the Grant County Mosquito Control District, Benton County Mosquito Control District, community organization leaders, business owners and citizens.

The primary concern from the group is the new limitations being placed on the use of adulticide to kill adult mosquitoes.

According to the control districts, the language in the draft permit restricts them from spraying for adult mosquitoes until there is documentation of a disease, in a human or in an animal, passed from a mosquito. They are concerned they will not be able to spray for mosquitoes classified as a nuisance. District officials also worry that by not spraying for adult mosquitoes, disease would spread too quickly before it could be stopped once it is documented.

Moore said under the proposed permit, control districts can spray adulticide to kill adult mosquitoes if they are merely a nuisance as long as the adulticide does not enter “water of the state.”

He explained there is concern about the language of what is classified as water of the state, which would include Moses Lake, rivers, canals and navigable water bodies. The permit would only be required for adulticide being sprayed directly into a water body.

The districts worry a puddle in a driveway or water in a bird bath could be classified as water of the state because the definition is too vague. If a mud puddle were classified as water of the state, a control district would not be able to spray adulticide because it would put them in violation of the permit.

Moore explained this is not the case. He said water such as a puddle is not classified as water of the state.

Several people questioned if control districts would be able to continue the use of their trucks and planes for spraying adulticide for nuisance mosquitoes.

Moore said there is nothing in the proposed permit stopping control districts from using trucks and planes as long as their equipment does not place adulticide into waters of the state. He explained there is concern from the districts because many trucks spray as far as 300 feet and planes spray as far as 1,000 feet so it may be difficult to spray without getting it into the water.

Moore explained spraying larvicide to kill mosquito larva is not at stake under the proposed permit. He explained the action is already permitted. Larvicide is organic and much less toxic than adulticide even though adulticide is permitted for aquatic use, he said.

The use of adulticide has never been officially permitted by DOE. He explained the reason to create a permit is to allow for a legal way for control districts to spray adulticide into water, because right now, it is technically illegal.

The reason for the permitting was sparked by a federal court decision calling for the requirement under the Clean Water Act. The reason DOE wants to provide a legal way to permit control districts to spray for adulticide, is to have protection from citizen lawsuits, he said.

Moore said a few years ago, water samples were taken in Grant County to illustrate whether or not adulticide was harmful to aquatic life. He said he was not familiar with the results of the study but said chemicals used in the adulticide have been documented to be harmful and lethal to aquatic life. Moore said fish are unable to metabolize some of the chemicals while other chemicals kill organisms the fish would eat.

He explained the goal of the meeting was to document the public’s concerns related to the permit and use them to revise it if necessary and clarify definitions that appear vague.

Another concern people outside had was the effect of nuisance mosquitoes preventing people from enjoying outdoor activities and potentially affecting tourism. The crowd voiced concerns that the restrictions on adulticide spraying could allow more time for disease to incubate and spread.

Inside the fire department, people were giving recorded testimony.

Sam Worsham manages the Potholes General Store near the MarDon Resort at the Potholes Reservoir.

“Our business is greatly supported by tourism dollars,” he explained. “In June, the airplane that sprays for mosquitoes in our area broke down. This is where I got a taste of what life would be like without spraying for mosquitoes.”

The plane was not in service for about three weeks.

“Within that three week period, the mosquitoes became so bad that I sold out of my two year supply of bug spray and had to order more,” Worsham said. “Customers were coming in the store buying three or four cans at a time plus citronella candles and mosquito sticks. That would happen on Friday when they arrived for their three or four day camping trip. By Saturday, those same people came in to buy pop and water for their return trip home because they just couldn’t take it anymore.”

He recalled how his employees inside the store had to wear bug spray to get through their shifts. Worsham also recalled how when the plane was back in service, life outdoors became comfortable again.

Dennis Gunderson, of Kennewick, said he contracted West Nile Virus. He explained he became very ill for a long period of time and it affected his neurological functions. Gunderson said he doesn’t want anyone to get sick like he did and hopes DOE allows the spraying of adulticide for mosquitoes anywhere it is needed.

Barbara H. Osborne, of Moses Lake, said she was one of the original supporters of creating a control district. She explained the need for the control district was sparked after a baby girl contracted an illness from a mosquito and it effected motor skills and other development leading to the need to institutionalize the girl for 17 years. Eventually the girl succumbed to her illness and died in her 20s.

She said children get vaccinated for various diseases to enter the school system and most often adults get vaccinated from the flu. Osborne said there is no vaccination against disease caused from a mosquito.

Benton County Mosquito Control District Manager Angela Balint said most mosquito complaint calls come from people living along a water body. Due to the constraints of the equipment, it makes it virtually impossible for the control district to spray for mosquitoes without getting the chemicals into the water. She said most people won’t be helped by the proposed permit.

Levi Meseberg read a statement on behalf of the MarDon Resort.

“Our local mosquito board does a good job with their larvicide program but that is not sufficient to meet the needs of our area,” Meseberg said. “Even with their job well done, mosquitoes escape their net and attack our guests. Many will then get a refund and head home. Seventy-two percent of our guests are from the Puget Sound area.”

Tourism and daily life will be affected, he said.

“But the underlying concern here is really health,” Meseberg explained. “The tourists won’t come for fear of this. The residents will not come out of their homes for fear of this. We do not want to go back to the good old days when mosquitoes were so common that they were called the state bird.”

DOE officials said they hope to issue a permit in May but it could take longer due to the consideration of public comment. Once the permit is adopted, it will go into effect in about 31 days. The decision for approval of the permit is made by Water Quality Program Manager Kelly Susewind.

Public comment is being accepted until March 17.

Written comments can be mailed to Jonathan Jennings at the Department of Ecology P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504-7600 or e-mailed to jonathan.jennings@ecy.wa.gov. Comments can also be faxed to 360-407-6426.

For more information about the permit, visit www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/pesticides/final_pesticide_permits/mosquito/mosquito_index.html.

Originally published March 10, 2010