Black Fly Spraying Tuesday In Lower Bucks County

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The PA Department of Protection will be conducting an aerial black fly (gnat) suppression operation on Tuesday on the Schuylkill, Lehigh, and Delaware Rivers, Neshaminy Creek, and Tulpehocken Creek.

The operations begin at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday as weather permits, and will include flights in Bucks, Montgomery, Chester, Berks, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill counties.

The helicopter used for the operation is a Bell Jet Ranger OH-58 with tail number N653HA and is painted white with blue and red stripes.

Spray operations will specifically take place within the following sections of each river:

• Schuylkill River: Between the City Avenue bridge in Philadelphia and upstream to the Landingville Dam in Schuylkill County.
• Lehigh River Between Easton and Sladington
• Delaware River Between Slateford and Trenton, NJ

The following creeks will be added as needed:

• Neshaminy Creek: Between Playwicki Park, Langhorne & the Rt 611 Bridge in Doylestown.
• Tulpehocken Creek: Between Blue Marsh Lake Dam & the confluence with the Schuylkill River

Helicopter Applicators Inc. will be dispersing Vectobac 12AS, which is a Bti product manufactured by Valent Biosciences.

Bti is short for Bacillus thuringiensis var. israilensis, which is a bacterial larvicide, not a chemical, and is the only product used in Pennsylvania's waterways for black fly suppression.

Vectobac 12AS is a brown liquid with a fish oil odor. The helicopter will fly low near tree top level and will release the Vectobac at various predetermined positions on each stream. Vectobac is not toxic to fish or other aquatic organisms.