Will the Aerial Spraying of Dallas for West Nile Affect our Real Estate Market?
Share News:
We are a buggy city, buggier this year than normal. Hence for the first time in 45 years, the City of Dallas just fogged major parts of the city in an airplane that took off from Dallas’ Executive field in Oak Cliff.
I am in North Dallas and we are now about three hours into the fogging. I hate that we’ve just basically sprayed Agent Orange on everything, and you betcha I brought my pets in. We have a bird. She has had limited exterior this summer exposure because of west Nile —- if birds catch it, they can die fairly quickly! So I feel this may have been a necessary evil.
And we’ve made national news: the Washington Post, the Chicago Sun Times, all commiserating and commenting on the pickle Mayor Mike Rawlings and city manager Mary Suhm found themselves in: nuke the city with pesticides or do nothing, exposing others to the nasty bites and possible deaths.
This far, this is a God-awful year for bugs even though we in Dallas are only 17 on the most-buggy scale, behind Austin and San Antonio: Nearly half of all West Nile cases in the United States so far this year are in Texas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If the trend continues, 2012 will be the worst West Nile year in state history. The virus, which can affect cognitive function, has killed 10 people in Dallas thus far and caused at least 200 illnesses.
The insecticide is called Duet Dual-Action Adulticide. It’s toxic to fish and other types of aquatic life, and it contains distilled petroleum, which may have even come from Texas.
Aerial spraying is a common response to West Nile, or at least it is in Florida and California, two places known for heavy mosquito populations. I recall nightly pesticide sprays in suburban Illinois. Speaking of Florida and California, people are still moving there.
So will our city’s response enhance real estate and make everyone want to move here so they don’t get bitten or itch to death, or die, show what a great city we have? Or will they think we’re all a bunch of polluters? Inquiring minds want to know!
No Comments
Leave a Comment
I grew up in Houston and spraying for mosquitoes was part of life. I put on bug repellent and they will still hunt me down and eat me up. I'm highly allergic and look like a castoff from a Dr Suess book when they are done with me. When they are spraying (and they do announce where and when), you just stayed indoors for that very brief period of time and since it's done overnight, that's usually not hard to do, and you take the other precautions as prescribed. This isn't going to be something that goes on forever so I don't think it's something to get overly excited about.
Pesticides for something like this aren't as bad as the loss of life and the long-term illnesses these diseases can cause. Malaria made a roaring comeback and 100,000's of people, mostly children, have died over the years because DDT was banned, a substance that was proven to kill the mosquitoes and eliminate the epidemic.
I grew up in Houston and spraying for mosquitoes was part of life. I put on bug repellent and they will still hunt me down and eat me up. I'm highly allergic and look like a castoff from a Dr Suess book when they are done with me. When they are spraying (and they do announce where and when), you just stayed indoors for that very brief period of time and since it's done overnight, that's usually not hard to do, and you take the other precautions as prescribed. This isn't going to be something that goes on forever so I don't think it's something to get overly excited about.
Pesticides for something like this aren't as bad as the loss of life and the long-term illnesses these diseases can cause. Malaria made a roaring comeback and 100,000's of people, mostly children, have died over the years because DDT was banned, a substance that was proven to kill the mosquitoes and eliminate the epidemic.
We all agree that no one wants mosquitoes or West Nile. The underlying issue here is that the experts don't agree on if the aerial spraying is effective in targeting the mosquito that carries West Nile. What I have read in the limited coverage says that the spray will eliminate mosquitoes that are active during the time the spraying is going on (usually late evening). The mosquitoes that carry West Nile are active at dusk and dawn (when the spraying is not being conducted.) So bottom line is that we are exposing our city to a pesticide bath that is not even effective in eliminating the pests.
The City could better serve it constituents by targeting those who do not tend their swimming pools or water features (a few of those in my neighborhood). Google earth provides a great look at everyone's back yard. Why not investigate those with green pools? Neighborhood centers and associations should also be supplied with mosquito dunks, cedarcide and other granular products that have been proven effective in controlling mosquitoes. In my mind this would be my tax dollars going for a good cause.
We have great citizens (for the most part) in a great city. Call on them for a grassroots campaign.
We all agree that no one wants mosquitoes or West Nile. The underlying issue here is that the experts don't agree on if the aerial spraying is effective in targeting the mosquito that carries West Nile. What I have read in the limited coverage says that the spray will eliminate mosquitoes that are active during the time the spraying is going on (usually late evening). The mosquitoes that carry West Nile are active at dusk and dawn (when the spraying is not being conducted.) So bottom line is that we are exposing our city to a pesticide bath that is not even effective in eliminating the pests.
The City could better serve it constituents by targeting those who do not tend their swimming pools or water features (a few of those in my neighborhood). Google earth provides a great look at everyone's back yard. Why not investigate those with green pools? Neighborhood centers and associations should also be supplied with mosquito dunks, cedarcide and other granular products that have been proven effective in controlling mosquitoes. In my mind this would be my tax dollars going for a good cause.
We have great citizens (for the most part) in a great city. Call on them for a grassroots campaign.