Salt marshes in New Suffolk and Aquebogue are scheduled for low-altitude aerial larvicide spraying sometime today or tomorrow by Suffolk County’s vector control division, the county health department announced this afternoon. The announcement just after the county health department announced 19 mosquito samples in Suffolk, including one in Aquebogue, tested positive for West Nile Virus a week ago.
The three targeted local salt marshes, identified by the vector control division as New Suffolk, Crescent Duck Farm and Overlook, are on a list of areas scheduled for aerial larvicide application this week, according to the health department.
Vector control will spray Altosid Liquid Larvicide Concentrate (Methoprene) between 5 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. tomorrow and Wednesday in the three local marshes and other areas listed here.
The low-altitude, large-droplet liquid application requires no preparations by residents, health officials said, because the helicopters will be flying at a very low level over marsh areas and taking other precautions to control drift into inhabited areas.
“Human exposure from this operation is unlikely and the products involved have no significant human toxicity,” the health department said in a press release.
The products to be applied are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and are applied in accordance with the required state and federal permits, the health department said.
For more information, contact the Suffolk County Division of Vector Control at 631-852-4270.
See the county’s vector control and wetlands management long-term plan here.
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