I oppose joining the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Program (CMMCP) (Article 39) for a cost of $165,000 over three years for five reasons.
- CMMCP has six main service areas and three of them are a duplication of work already performed by Harvard’s Highway Department: cleaning catch basins, ditches and culverts; old tire collection; and application of larvacides (the Highway Department has an employee who is licensed to apply larvacides). Another service is education; this is done by the BOH and could be expanded with minimal cost. CMMCP conducts larva testing of some water bodies; independent contractors may be available to provide that service.
- Based on the surveillance data reported by the CMMCP, there is NO evidence that disease-carrying mosquitoes have shown a dramatic increase. In the CMMCP Annual Report for 2013, they found 0 pools testing positive for EEE and 0.01% (12 pools out of 1094) (www.cmmcp.org/2013_Executive_Summary.pdf) positive for West Nile Virus.
- The CMMCP sprays the adulticide sumithrin from trucks. It is toxic to fish and freshwater invertebrates, according to the USEPA, and the only method of reducing this impact is by how the spraying is conducted, which is at the discretion of the applicator. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife, protector of Oxbow National Wildlife Refuge, does not allow any mosquito control chemicals to be used on their property.
- Spraying is done on an “as request basis” (according to the director of CMMCP), meaning residents can request spraying of their yards. This application of the adulticides is NOT based on data indicating there is a risk to public health. In addition, the effectiveness of spraying is temporary; after 3-5 days there is fly-in from untreated areas and in 5-6 days populations return to pre-spray levels. The Mass. Department of Public Health does NOT endorse this type of “nuisance” spraying. CMMCP does not offer their services on an a la carte basis, forcing towns to accept spraying.
- The State statute that created the mosquito control districts specifically exempted them from the restrictions imposed by the Wetlands Protection Act as well as oversight by ANY governmental body (e.g., Conservation Commission) within a town which joins the control program.
Sharon McCarthy
East Bare Hill Road
