MOSQUITOES

Whoa! What a great turnout for the public hearing in Moses Lake on the update to the Aquatic Mosquito Control General Permit. We count this large attendance as a sign of a successful public process. At the same time, we hope no one was uncomfortable as we tried to accommodate the unexpected number of people.

A big thank you goes out to all the people who cared enough to attend the hearing and for their patience as we tried to make do with the space we had. Ecology will try to make sure this doesn’t happen again by planning for larger venues.

The feedback we received at the hearing was very useful to us and will be considered as we develop the new permit. Comments received are very valuable as this permit is not yet a done deal. The bottom line is that we need to ensure the permit protects the environment while at the same time protecting people.

We expect to have the permit finished and ready to go in June to be ready for this mosquito season. It will allow the use of insecticides to control adult mosquitoes that carry diseases such as West Nile virus.

For more information see our Aquatic Mosquito Control NPDES General Permit Web site at www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/wq/pesticides/final_pesticide_permits/mosquito/mosquito_index.html.

Jani Gilbert

Communications Manager

State Department of Ecology

Originally published March 11, 2010