Attention Conshy Mosquitoes: Spraying Happens Tuesday

The Montgomery County Health Department, after consulting with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, Plymouth Township and Conshohocken Borough officials, will be spraying for mosquitoes next week.

The spraying will be happening Tuesday, Sept. 10 from about 7:45 to 11 p.m. in the areas bordered by 11th and 12th avenues, Elm Street and Colwell Lane. If the weather if bad, crews will spray on Sept. 17.

Check out the map.

Generally speaking, the chemical being sprayed is not harmful to people, but it is suggested that residents go inside (along with pets) and turn off their air conditioning systems while the trucks pass — and for about 30 minutes after the trucks pass.

According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health website, five mosquitoes in Conshohocken tested positive for West Nile Virus this summer, the most recent on Aug. 20.

There have also been four cases of West Nile Virus infecting humans in Pennsylvania, including a man from Montgomery County.

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Pennsylvania DEP spokeswoman Amanda Witman said in an earlier interview that the insecticide being used — Biomist 3+15 — is safe and poses “very little danger” to humans or pets because the concentration being used is so low. The spraying will be at a rate of 0.75 ounces per acre.

“In all honesty, we don’t have a recommendation that people come inside [during the spraying] because the spraying is safe,” Witman said. “It’s going to be done primarily after dark, and we anticipate that most people will already be inside.”

Witman said the Pennsylvania DEP has never had a case of a human or a pet being affected by the spraying of Biomist; she added that the pesticide degrades quickly in the environment the following day.

Though the chemical targets mosquitoes, Witman said she couldn’t talk on whether other insects would be killed by the chemical.

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Originally posted Sept. 6, 2013 at 01:06 p.m.