Legislators ask governor to consider spraying for mosquitoes
A bipartisan coalition of state lawmakers called on Gov. Ned Lamont’s administration Friday to consider spraying pesticides in areas where mosquitoes carrying the deadly eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, virus have been detected.
A 77-year-old East Lyme woman and an elderly Old Lyme resident died of the virus last week.
Sens. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and Norm Needleman, D-Essex, led the coalition that sent a letter to Lamont. All members of the southeastern Connecticut delegation signed the letter.
“I am heartened by this bipartisan effort to help protect Connecticut residents,” Needleman said in a statement. “While we are grateful for the efforts the governor’s administration has taken to address this crisis, we believe that selective use of pesticides within reason could help prevent future infections among the public."
Noting that statewide temperatures are not expected to drop below 40 degrees for at least the next two weeks, the lawmakers wrote that waiting for the first frost to kill mosquitoes may not be tenable. They requested that the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection “review the potential effectiveness of selective aerial insecticide spraying in areas of the state with high concentrations of EEE.”
The lawmakers said spraying would give residents “additional peace of mind.”
“In saying this, we recognize that we do not wish to cause unnecessary panic,” they wrote. “The risk of EEE remains low and we understand that numbers are declining. At the same time, if further prevention efforts can save even one more life or prevent even one individual from becoming sick, we believe they would be valuable and worthwhile.”
Earlier this week, DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said her department had no current plans to spray for mosquitoes, having done so in Pachaug State Forest in Voluntown on two occasions in August and September.
Infected mosquitoes have been found this year at state-maintained trapping locations in about a dozen towns in the state, including Groton, Ledyard, Lyme, North Stonington, Old Lyme and Stonington. Residents of all towns in eastern Connecticut have been advised to limit their outdoor activity between dusk and dawn when mosquitoes are most active and to cover up and use mosquito repellent when they must be outside.
In Rhode Island, which has recorded a human death attributed to the EEE virus this year, a second round of aerial spraying began this week. Spraying in two zones — one in southwestern Rhode Island and one surrounding West Warwick — was scheduled to take place, the state Department of Environmental Management and the state Department of Health announced.
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