SWCMCD,
Tonight was gravely disappointing. We believe in a non-toxic approach to mosquito control. One that does not give people cancer. I felt like the meeting "discussion" was biased tonight with your department prompting all discussion. It was not a town hall meeting, but a lecture for an hour followed with skirting the real facts and angry dialogue about who maintains ditches. All my available time was used up by your presentation. I am not participating in this form of discussion as it was made clear any questions fell on deaf ears. Adulticides are banned in most countries besides the USA.
I am dismayed by the following:
Why is your organization considering revoking No Spray signs?
As voting residents of this county, we should have the right to choose whether or not to be sprayed with neurotoxins. My daughter has horrible allergies and sensitivities to chemicals. Doctors have recommended that we limit her exposure to chemicals like the permethrin used by the mosquito control district. I grew up in Florida and both my parents died of cancer at a young age, with links to chemical exposure such as permethrin. Are you suggesting that I cannot protect my family from the damage caused by neurotoxins? Shouldn't this be my choice?
Are you also considering abandoning the spray notification program? There are people struggling for their lives in our community. This does not seem a wise path.
There should be a link on your website so people can see the facts regarding how often in a given week, month or year they are sprayed with neurotoxins. It is far more than 24 times a year.
Why does your organization not acknowledge the EPA and other scientific reports stating the toxicity of permethrin, particularly long term exposure? Just in 2000, Dursban use was discontinued and found to cause birth defects and autoimmune disorders. There are numerous studies that report the same or worse with permethrin, but we are somehow viewed by your organization as radical for wanting change. Just because a chemical is used and approved, does not make it "safe".
Why are the "facts" contradicted at every turn of the meeting? First the mosquitos born in our backyards are the ones that are biting us, then we are told that the reason permethrin is sprayed is because the mosquitos from interior lands are biting us? Residents who want to be sprayed should have no doubts and be educated that they are still being protected with BTI's even though others choose differently.
When someone from the crowd asks: "How is this affecting our neighbors?" It should be made clear by your organization that as a community we are all getting sprayed with BTI and Round-up even though we have a No Spray sign. No Spray signs are not making the mosquito problem worse. The interior wetlands are and the standing water that abounds.
I would rather chance my child getting bit by a mosquito carrying West Nile or Encephalitis than provide her with long term exposure to poisonous permethrin. Permethrin has been clearly proven by the EPA, and the scientific community, to harm her, give her cancer, cause liver damage, neurological damage and retard her growth. How could any informed person choose this exposure for their family? This is why I will continue to educate friends, neighbors and all who will listen.
After hearing your officials threaten, in a public forum, to take away my No Spray sign I am will remind you again that your spray notification system is not working either. Both my husband and I are on the list. We do not receive notifications to both our phones ever. Only to my phone, sometimes. We are frightened. When I am away from home, my child and husband are sometimes playing outside in the evenings. Without proper notification, my husband does not know they are going to spray. This is leading to increased exposure for my child, and this is not okay.
I will not give up educating the public about what is going on. People simply don't know what they are being sprayed with daily. I won't give up hope that your organization will someday test non-toxic alternatives to adulticides. I feel saddened to live in such a heavily sprayed area as South Walton, and find out that I have no basic human rights, have my rights threatened, by law and your organization. I can't understand why money is not spent to test and research less toxic alternatives, but only that we rely on an antiquated platform of mosquito "control" that is poisoning us all and our fragile ecosystem.