Mosquito Control Project

The Norfolk County Mosquito Control Project will be treating certain large wetlands in the Town of Norfolk tentatively beginning Tuesday, April 20, 2004 through Tuesday, May 4, 2004 with a granular form of Bti (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis), a naturally occurring soil bacterium that controls mosquito larvae before they become mosquitoes, and is practically non toxic to humans and other plants and animals. If the application cannot be completed by then the application will continue beyond these dates until completed. Because these wetlands are inaccessible form roads, the application will be by helicopter flying at tree top level. The Bti is imbedded on very coarsely ground corn cob granules. The granules when applied fall straight into the wetland and do not drift beyond the targeted area.

Aerial Bti applications will only be done in wetlands that likely harbor a significant number of mosquito larvae. The Project has begun taking "dip" samples of water from these wetlands in order to determine larvae density.

According to information on the EPA website, [here], microbial larvicides "are essentially nontoxic to humans, so there are no concerns for human health effects with Bti," and "do not pose a risk to wildlife, non-target species, or the environment."

### 4/16/2004