PRESS RELEASE:
NEW YORK ENVIRONMENTAL LAW & JUSTICE PROJECT
member of The Clean Water Network
Joel R Kupferman, Esq., Exec. Dir. Kimberly Flynn, Policy Analyst Grace S. Jean, Legal Intern Daniel Skinner, Media Director
315 Broadway Suite 200 New York NY 10007-1121 212-766-9910 fax: 646-349-2622 nyeljp@justice.com
March 22, 2001
Contact: Kimberly Flynn (212) 439-1138
Joel Kupferman (212) 766-9910
CITY TO OPEN BIDS FOR WEST NILE SPRAY CONTRACT--
THREE-YEAR PLAN FOR MASSIVE HAZARDOUS
SPRAYING–INCLUDING AERIAL SPRAYING of MALATHION (FYFANON ULV) and NALED
(DIBROM)
New York City is planning its next West Nile campaign
right now, threatening to barrage its eight million residents with dangerous
pesticides once again. Only New York City, of all the counties and
municipalities in NY State, is making preparations to escalate toxic spraying
in 2001, and beyond.
On March 2, the State Health Department convened its West
Nile Response Committee. After two years of environmentalist outcry over
disastrous West Nile policies, the State Committee appears to be on the verge
of altering its West Nile Plan for 2001. Specifically the Committee is leaning
toward a more science-based, responsible policy--favoring least toxic
preventative measures instead of pesticide spraying, and raising the threshold
for spraying in the light of new information from the CDC. Meanwhile,New York
City alone is moving aggressively and unaccountably in the opposite direction.
Next week, the City’s Health Department plans to grant
a contract for mosquito control which includes the aerial and ground
application of chemicals such as malathion and naled. These are among the most
hazardous pesticides in current use (see below*). And the City’s bid sheet
reveals that it intends to pursue this reckless course for the next three
years, despite the fact that the risks posed by the virus are being
downgraded.
The emphasis on broadcast spraying in the City’s policy
flies in the face of newly released CDC data which show that many birds and
mosquitoes in a given area can be infected with the virus without there being
a single human case. The CDC data also continue to confirm that the vast
majority of humans infected with the virus are asymptomatic or experience mild
symptoms which resolve quickly. The severe form of the illness develops only
very rarely. Furthermore, CDC has now taken children off the at-risk list for
encephalitis.
Nonetheless, the City is choosing to spray over its eight
million people a host of dangerous chemicals including:
Naled, aka Dibrom. The Precautionary Statements on the
Dibrom label read as follows: “DANGER. CORROSIVE. Causes irreversible eye
and skin damage. May be fatal if swallowed, inhaled or absorbed through
skin.”
Malathion, aka Fyfanon ULV, is an organophosphate already
banned in Japan, and a known nerve poison. Acutely, it produces toxic effects
on the nervous system, blood and other tissues. In addition, there is a large
body of reports in mainstream peer-reviewed medical journals attesting to its
delayed toxic effects, including genetic abnormalities, carcinogenicity,
ocular disease and immune suppression.
And Anvil, last year’s pesticide of choice. The No Spray
Coalition, our plaintiffs in the federal anti-spray suit against the City,
received more than a hundred calls last year from residents complaining of
adverse reactions to Anvil. The case of Department of Transportation worker,
Ricardo Rosa, who was sprayed with Anvil as he worked on a Brooklyn street
last September, demonstrates the irreversible damage even a one-time exposure
can do. Prior to being sprayed he was completely healthy–he is now
chronically short-of-breath, and has been diagnosed with “Occupational
Asthma due to Anvil exposure” by a Mt. Sinai Occupational Medicine doctor.
This clinic has documented other cases of Anvil-spray poisoning leading to
partial disability.
Attorney Joel Kupferman, the Executive Director of the
New York Environmental Law and Justice Project, said: “We can’t believe
that Malathion is back on the list. If the City’s health department had
performed adequate surveillance on the health impact of its 1999 spray
campaign, it would know that many residents, especially those living in
Queens, suffered malathion poisoning. But
the City made no provision to track or to treat those with adverse reactions
to malathion and Scourge in ‘99, or to Anvil in 2000 either. It looks like
they just don’t want to know.”
In the coming days, the City will close the deal on a
plan which, if carried out, will result residents being exposed again and
again to organophosphate and synthetic pyrethroid pesticides. This, even
though the available science points to the far greater effectiveness and
sustainability of public education, breeding site reduction (elimination of
standing water), and selective larviciding. More broadcast spraying, which
endangers all New Yorkers and does incalculable damage to a fragile urban
environment, is irresponsible and unacceptable. We demand a policy which is
based on reasonable prevention and precautions--rather than on hype, hysteria
and hazardous chemicals.
The city of New York will open bids from prospective
contractors for three components of the City’s
WEST NILE SPRAY CAMPAIGN for next three years (2001-3).
Bid Opening for
Surveillance Component
March 23, 2001 10:30 NYC Health Department 125 Worth Street NY
Mosquito Control (Pesticide application)
March 28, 2001* 10:00AM NYC Health Department 125 Worth Street NY
Quality Assurance for Mosquito Control Activities
March 28, 2001* 11:00AM NYC Health Department 125 Worth Street NY
* possible change of date- we will let you know as soon as we do
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