On August 26th and August 27th, 2008 the DEP and Montgomery
County chose to treat many of the local townships,
including Abington, to eradicate the mosquitoes carrying the West Nile virus.
Unfortunately, the aerial spraying was made without the
knowledge of many of the residents over whose homes the
pesticide was applied.
The way that this was done, without advance notification or
education about the chemicals being used did not enable residents to
even all get the message. Many may have been out in the spray
itself - without any knowledge that it was happening & that
there were precautions to take. Neither did they have ab
opportunity to voice their approval or rejection of this
process
The chemical used Aug 27th between 8 and 12 pm was Resmethrin -
While TV reports stated that officials had apologized for this
oversight, we have yet to see what Abington's reaction might be.
We hope that this issue will point out the need for better
communications (that we have been requesting for several years
now), including open forums to discuss issues just such as this
one, and we hope that residents rights and wishes will be
respected by design in the future.
While some may think that the West Nile virus is a terrible
threat, a Times Chronicle article tells us that there has only
been one case of the virus in humans in the state. The article
did not indicate that the patient had died - just that the
diagnosis had been made.
