On July 12 the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs denied the town’s request to opt out of state-authorized pesticide applications. Last summer, state legislators passed a bill allowing the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board to conduct ground and aerial spraying anywhere in Massachusetts if the commissioner of public health declares an elevated risk of mosquito-borne disease. These diseases include West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE).
The new law allows individual towns to request opting out of state spraying, as long as they provided the state with an alternative mosquito management plan by May 28. Harvard’s Board of Health submitted its plan, approved by the Select Board, in mid-May.
The Select Board requested clarification for the denial, and it received an email from the environmental affairs office on Aug. 17, stating that the application was denied because Harvard was considered a moderate risk to the surrounding region. The state received a total of 35 opt-out applications, and it evaluated all for level of “regional risk,” from minimal to very high. Twenty-four towns were rated as having minimal or low regional risks, and their opt-out applications were all approved. The other 11 towns were rated moderate regional risks, and their applications were all denied.
Factors affecting regional risk include habitat, results of mosquito sample tests, cases in humans and animals, and the quality of the submitted plan. Harvard was assessed as a moderate risk based on one mosquito sample that tested positive for the disease in 2019, as well as a case of an infected animal in a neighboring town and the presence of mosquito habitat. The state also found the town’s plan lacking in the area of controlling the mosquito population in the region, citing the need for both “larval and adult control of mosquitoes in EEE habitat.” The letter emphasized that lack of management in one town can increase disease risk in neighboring towns.
The letter also said the State Reclamation and Mosquito Control Board “has not yet determined whether it will initiate spray activities in your municipality to mitigate public health concerns associated with arbovirus,” but it promised that the Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs would stay in touch with the town “as the season progresses.”
Individual property owners can request to opt out of spraying by submitting a form available at mass.gov/forms/request-for-ex clusion-from-wide-area-applic ation-of-pesticides.
Requests go into effect 14 days after they are received and expire at the end of the calendar year. However, the state would override property owner requests if the risk of mosquito-borne diseases were to rise to the level of a public health emergency.
If spraying is planned, the Department of Agricultural Resources would post a map at massnrc.org/spray-map. Spraying takes place in the evenings, and the map would be updated each day to show areas to be sprayed. Residents can ask to be notified of spraying at least 48 hours in advance at mass.gov/forms/how-to-request-to-be-notified-of-an-aerial-spray- or-wide-area-emergency-opera tion-conducted.
As of Aug. 17, no mosquito samples in the state had tested positive for EEE this year, but 45 samples in the state had tested positive for West Nile virus. Only two of those were in Worcester County; both were in the city of Worcester. No human or animal cases have been reported in the state this year so far. The state updates its online risk maps and sample results throughout the season at www.mass.gov/info-details/massa chusetts-arbovirus-update.
More information about mosquito spraying is available at mass.gov/service-details/mosquito-control-and-spraying.
