Posted on 09/13/2005 4:46:58 PM PDT by SandRat
DUKE FIELD, Fla. (AFPN) -- The Air Force Reserve continues to save lives in Hurricane Katrina’s aftermath by conducting the first of many aerial spray missions that began Sept. 12 over Louisiana in an attempt to reduce mosquito and filth fly populations.
The Department of Defense’s only fixed-wing aerial spray unit, the 910th Airlift Wing, and its C-130 Hercules were requested by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to spray until the threat of disease subsides. FEMA officials are assessing how many acres need to be sprayed as a result of Katrina.
“The elimination of disease-carrying insects is a vital part of ensuring public health and safety in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina,” said Lt. Col. Steve Olson, a 910th AW medical entomologist. “The targeted insects are capable of transmitting diseases such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis, West Nile virus and malaria. If not controlled, the probability people will contract these diseases, either in single incidents or in widespread outbreaks, increases greatly.”
The 910th AW from Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio, is operating out of here because of its proximity to the spray area, ability to handle C-130 aircraft and capability to support the mission without conflicting with other relief efforts.
Each modified C-130 is equipped with a modular aerial spray system. Dibrom is the chemical choice for the mosquito control operation.
The chemical, sprayed in a fine mist, is dispersed in a ratio similar to a few tablespoons over an entire football field. A gallon of Dibrom is capable of treating 128 to 256 acres. At this rate of application, it does not pose a hazard to humans or the environment, Colonel Olson said.
“When the aircrew makes a swath across the spray area, people on the ground will most likely only see the aircraft engine exhaust,” said Lt. Col. Marty Davis, mission commander. “Within 10 to 15 seconds after the spray is released, it becomes virtually invisible to the naked eye. In fact, the spray is so fine that it’s small enough to attach to the hair on a mosquito’s legs.”
Up to two C-130s will fly per day and are capable of spraying a combined area of up to 200,000 acres. To be most effective, spray operations will begin about two-and-a-half hours before dusk when the mosquito population is most active.
During these low-level missions over the city and outlying areas, aircraft fly at about 150 feet.
“The reason for flying so low is to help maintain the chemical’s maximum effect in the designated spray area,” Colonel Davis said.
A second application is often sprayed to control additional mosquitoes that hatch after the first aerial spray.
The 910th AW is not new to this type of mission. The Air Force Reserve Command unit has flown a variety of aerial spray missions since 1973. During aerial spray operations following Hurricane Floyd in 1999, the unit sprayed about 1.7 million acres over areas of Virginia and North Carolina.
The missions will not interfere with search-and-rescue operations still ongoing in Louisiana, said Maj. Tim Austin, deputy mission commander for the Hurricane Katrina relief effort spray mission and chief of spray operations for the 757th Airlift Squadron.
“The air space over the spray area has been de-conflicted, but if a search and rescue mission is needed, we can abort a swath in seconds,” he said. “The spray controllers on board the aircraft will stop the spray and the pilot will initiate a climb and turn out of the spray area.”
Cancer Lawsuits Pending
I sent 2 bottles of Off with Mike to NO...Im hoping he's using it..
Imagine if this were California.
It's Chemtrails I tell you!
Those poor dimocrats will be SUV driving Bushbots before
they know they've even re-registered as Republicans.
Better living through chemistry!
Bring back DDT!!
No, the chemical of choice for mosquito control is DDT. Unfortunately, due to the environwackos, DDT can't be used.
The poison overwhelms bugs, while humans excrete the metabolic products of the exposure. (You hopefully can't detect the chemical in urine, but you will detect some harmless signature byproducts.)
It's also terribly short-sighted to dismiss a long-term resistance building up in mosquitos. Like antibiotics, someday we may spray and spray, and find they have evolved immunity. In theory.
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