Judge orders halt to Suffolk's mosquito plan

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Subject:     Judge orders halt to Suffolk's mosquito plan
     Date:  4/25/2004
    From:     Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com) (www.thebestcontrol.com)

To:     Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
          Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation 

Newsday, Inc.
Judge orders halt to Suffolk's mosquito plan By Katie Thomas -Staff Writer
April 23, 2004, 7:48 PM EDT

A judge has ordered that Suffolk County stop spraying for mosquitos, arguing that the county legislature did not follow state law when it failed to consider the environmental impact of its mosquito control plan.
The lawsuit had been brought by the Peconic Baykeeper, a group that argued the county's spraying of pesticides and digging of trenches in wetlands was killing thousands of fish and other wildlife.
In his ruling, issued April 16 but not received by some litigants until Friday, State Supreme Court Justice Paul Baisley Jr. ruled that the county is prevented from "commencing or continuing work" in mosquito control until it studies the plan's environmental impact.
But Suffolk County Attorney Christine Malafi said the county plans to file a notice of appeal as early as Tuesday, which would stay Baisley's order and could allow the county to continue spraying.
Department of Public Works Commissioner Charles Bartha, who oversees the county's mosquito control program along with the health department, issued a memo Friday ordering that work be stopped and the staff reassigned to highway maintenance.
The judge's decision was met with enthusiasm by Kevin McAllister, Peconic Baykeeper's executive director. "I can't tell you how important this is. Just a home run," he said. "It completely
validates our position."
Dr. David Graham, Suffolk County's public health director, said the mosquito control plan will continue as soon as the appeal is filed. "As the mosquito season comes upon us, the respective departments really must do the work necessary to protect both the environment and the public health," he said.
Suffolk County stepped up its mosquito control program after the summer of 1999, when the West Nile virus was first discovered in the United States.
The control plan has drawn criticism from environmentalists who argue the plan is destroying delicate ecosystems.
"They have one of the most extensive mosquito control programs in the Northeast," said Adrienne Esposito, executive director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, a Farmingdale group. "They have been applying these pesticides without any comprehensive knowledge of the
environmental and public-health impact."
Suffolk's mosquito program differs from the one run by Nassau County, primarily because Suffolk uses insecticide, while Nassau uses a more targeted larvaecide aimed at killing the mosquitoes before they mature, said Bryan Matthews, the West Nile virus program director for Nassau's Department of Health.
Matthews said Suffolk's size and wider variety of habitats makes  their job more difficult.

Copyright © 2004, Newsday, Inc.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longisland/ny-limosq0424,0,1513273.story?coll=ny-top-span-headlines

 

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