Bardstown woman using social media to protest mosquito spraying program

NC GAZETTE / WBRT RADIO
STAFF REPORT

Tuesday, July 28, 2015, 4 p.m. — A Bardstown woman has organized a social media page to protest what she claims amounts to her being forced to leave her home because she cannot opt out of the City of Bardstown’s mosquito spraying program.

On Tuesday, Ashley Patterson launched the “No Spray Bardstown” Facebook page after she says her request to have the area around her home opted out of the spraying program fell on deaf ears.

Patterson has a son who has asthma, and in August 2013, she says her son reacted to the mosquito spraying which required a trip to the Kosair Children’s Hospital emergency room where he was treated for breathing problems.

And Patterson says if the spraying program won’t allow her to opt-out, she and her children will be forced to leave their home.

“I am utterly in AWE that my City of Bardstown can FORCE me out of my own home, which I pay city taxes on, in order to keep my son safe,” Patterson posted on Facebook.

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Patterson is asking people who share her views to change their Facebook photo to one she created “to give a visual representation to our city that we are speaking out together!”

Bardstown Mayor John Royalty said there’s no opting out of the mosquito spraying program because there’s no way to truly control the fog that the equipment creates.

“By opting out, you really aren’t opting out,” Royalty said. Due to the way the fog may drift, there’s no way to guarantee anyone that the fog won’t reach their property if the fog is used elsewhere in their neighborhood.

“Opting out in the past was just a courtesy gesture because the fog can carry up to a block away,” he said. “Opting out just doesn’t work. And how do you opt-out an individual who has neighbors who want the mosquito spraying?”

The insecticide is safe and effect, Royalty said, adding that mosquitoes are well-known disease carriers, including West Nile virus. Effective control of the mosquito population will take three cycles of spraying, he said. The city will announce future spraying dates in advance.

The insecticide the city will use is Duet, the same used by the Department of Agriculture mosquito control program, the Lincoln Trail Health Department and other municipal governments for outdoor mosquito control.

According to the manufacturer’s website, Duet’s active ingredients decompose in sunlight into carbon monoxide and water vapor. Duet is applied at night. Click here to visit the manufacturer’s website to learn more about Duet.

A City Hall press release said the spraying will begin at about 9:45 p.m. provided the winds are calm and it isn’t raining. The alternate date is the evening of Thursday, July 30.

For more information on the City of Bardstown’s mosquito control program, visit the Mosquito Control webpage.

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