Suffolk To Spray South Shore For Mosquitoes

LONG ISLAND, NY — The Suffolk County Department of Public Works’ Division of Vector Control plans to treat parts of some marshes on the south shore on Tuesday by helicopter to control mosquito larvae, officials said.

Should weather conditions prevent completion of the work, it will be continued on the next suitable day.

The spraying will run from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Method of application will include a low altitude helicopter using a granular pellet application of VectoPrime FG [Bti, or Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, and Altosid, or Methoprene.

In the Town of Babylon, areas will include Gilgo and West Gilgo beaches. In the Town of Brookhaven, areas will include Stillman Creek, Grove Avenue, and Pine Neck and Roe avenues, Abets, Johns Neck, Hedges and Beaverdam creeks, Lyman Marsh, Fireplace Neck, and Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge, Mastic Beach, and Moriches-Crystal Brook, as well as Bellport Bay.

In the Town of Islip, areas will include Robert Moses U.S. Coast Guard Station, Gardiner Park, Scully, Islip Preserve, Westoak Recreation and Ludlows Creek, West Sayvill GC, Heckscher State Park, and Quintuck Creek.

The products used by Vector Control are registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state's Department of Environmental Conservation and are applied in accordance with the required state and federal permits.

No precautions are recommended to prepare for this spraying, as the helicopter 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.

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