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Two areas were identified for treatment this spring and are
now completed.
Trapping results in 2009 have revealed enough information to define
treatment boundaries for gypsy moth infestations growing in Richmond and
Harrison. An aerial application was approved for the Richmond
infestation while surviving moths from the 2009 aerial application in
Harrison will be treated using a ground spray. The Harrison
treatment is located
south of the village of Harrison Hot Springs on primarily agricultural
land on the road to Harrison Lake. The spray formulation chosen
for use on both treatment areas is approved for use on
organic farms.
The treatments three separate rounds of applications. Each
round of aerial applications took up to four mornings to complete
while each round of ground sprays was completed in one day. Treatment dates and times
were provided to the local media, schools, registered day cares,
seniors care facilities, and hospitals and was posted on this web site, listserve e-mails, and on the gypsy moth
information line (1-866-917-5999 (24 hr information line)).
No other areas of the Province are being treated in 2010.
Pesticide Use Permit Approved
A Pesticide Use Permit was
approved by the Ministry
of Environment on February 17th, 2010 following the mandatory review
period that was initiated when the permit application was made on October 27th, 2009.
All conditions
described in the
Integrated Pest Management Act and
Regulation have been followed. Note that a slight change
has been made to the south-east boundary and has reduced the total
area to 776 ha. The Pesticide Use Permit was appealed and the
Environmental Appeal Board decision did not find any evidence that
the treatment would cause adverse impacts to either human health or
the environment. The decision is posted at:
http://www.eab.gov.bc.ca/ipm/2010IPMList.htm
Authorities
The legal authority for provincial staff and contractors to enter
and treat private land has been obtained through an Order-in-Council
(No. 061) entitled the "North
American Gypsy Moth Eradication Regulation, 2010" that was
signed and deposited on January 29, 2010 (minor
amendment made March 31, 2010)
SPRAY DATES
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LOCATION |
TREATMENT
DETAILS
All dates
subject to change (*see below)
Link to
Environment Canada's Weather Office
site |
Richmond Aerial Spray
766 ha |
ROUND 1
- Day 1 - The first
round of sprays
(completed over 3
mornings) began on
Friday, April
30th at 5:30 AM to
7:30 AM.
-
Day 2's
spray was completed
on Wednesday, May
5th. Spraying took
placed from 5:30 AM
to 7:15 AM. Treatments will be starting from the Eastern edge
of Landsdowne Mall
and moving West and
also from the Garden
City Lands, moving
East.
-
Day 3's
treatment ended at 7
AM (started at
5:27 AM) Thursday, May 6th.
The plan was to
complete the
remaining lines near
the Eastern and
Western boundaries
of the block
(Gilbert and Shell
Roads) however high
winds ended the
treatment early
(7AM)
-
Day 4
- was completed from
5:21 to 5:47 AM
on Friday,
May 7th.
Treatment line
were
all West of No. 3
Road to Gilbert Rd.
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ROUND 2
- Day 1
- Round 2
began at 5:15 AM and
ended at 7:15 AM on
Thursday, May 13th
under ideal
conditions.
Treatment will
follow the same
pattern as in Round
1 with the first
morning's spraying
focussed on the
centre of the block
along Garden City
Rd.
- Day 2 -
began at
~5:10 AM Friday, May 14th;
ending at 6:45 AM
due to restrictions
by airport air
traffic control.
Treatment
continued from Day
1's lines West of Landsdowne
Mall and East of the
Garden City Lands to
Shell Road.
- Day 3-
The remaining few
lines were completed
on Saturday, May
15th from 5:16 AM to
6:09 AM.
Treatment was
focussed on the East
and West boundaries
of the block East of
Gilbert Rd and West
of Shell Rd.
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ROUND 3
- Day1
- Round 3 began at
5 AM Wednesday, May 26th
starting at the
centre of the Garden
City lands, moving
west towards
Landsdowne Mall.
Unfortunately, rain
halted the treatment
at 6:20 AM and only
the western half of
the Garden City
Lands to Garden City
Road were
completed.
- Day 2
-
resumed at ~5:30 AM
but ended early due
to airport traffic
conflicts at 6:20
AM. This
morning's treatment
ony managed to cover
several lines
situated west of
Garden City Road to
Landsdowne Mall.
- Day 3 -
Treatment resumed at
5 AM on Sunday, May
3oth after rain
delays on
Friday, May 28th and
Saturday, May 29th.
Treatment ended at
6:30 AM.
Treatment covered
from west of Landsdowne Mall
(No. 3 Rd) to just
East of Minoru Blvd
and from the middle
of the Garden City
Lands to the
intersection of
Cambie Rd. and Hwy
99.
- Day 4
- treatment of the
remaining lines
resumed on Tuesday,
June 1st at 5 AM and
was completed at
5:55 AM
Treatment starts on
lines east of the
intersection of Hwy
99/Cambie Rd. to
Shell Rd and then
moves to the lines west
of Minoru Blvd to
Gilbert Rd.
This was the final
treatment.
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Harrison Ground Spray
25 ha |
- Round 1
was completed on Tuesday May 4th
- Round 2 will
start at ~8AM on
Friday, May 14th
- Round 3 was
completed on
Sunday, May
30th.
The residential
areas were not treated.
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* Application dates
(up to four applications between April 15th to
June 30th, 2010) were selected based on the estimated peak
emergence and development rates of gypsy moth
caterpillars. These dates are generated by
a sophisticated insect growth model developed by
the Canadian Forest Service. Since these rates are temperature
dependent, the dates may change with the input
of real temperature data vs. estimated
temperatures based on historic averages. Poor weather
(rain, high winds) may cause cancellation of the
spray but it will resume as soon as the weather
and other conditions become favourable.
Every
effort will be made to provide notification of
changes to the schedule when they occur.
Whenever updates were made to the spray
schedule, they were communicated to local media,
posted on this site, sent via
listserve e-mail, and on the outgoing phone
message on the toll-free gypsy moth information
line (1-866-917-5999)
SPRAY
FORMULATIONS
Foray 48B
was used to treat these infestations. This
formulation is permitted to be used on certified organic farms and gardens by being
Organic
Materials Review Institute (OMRI) Listed. More detailed information on
these products - including their labels - is
available on the
Btk Links page.
Residents who wished to minimize direct contact with the
spray were advised to stay indoors with the windows and doors
closed for at least one hour after the spray has been
completed. The Pest Management Regulatory Agency
also suggests that 5-6 hours after the spray,
individuals may want to open doors and windows to air
out any concentration of Btk that may have entered the
house through air vents or other openings.
Residents may also want to cover outdoor items and
vehicles to avoid having them covered by droplets.
These droplet deposits can be easily removed with water
and a bit of scrubbing but normal weathering will
eliminate them in about one week. Pets
should be brought indoors if they may be frightened by
the aircraft noise or, for the ground spray, by spray
crews entering yards to treat vegetation.
Aircraft Noise - the most noticeable
aspect of this treatment will be the sound of the low
flying fixed wing aircraft occurring early in the morning.
This is an unavoidable inconvenience that will be
experienced by residents in and surrounding the spray
block. As the plane needs to fly
into areas other than the treatment area in order to
safely turn around and realign, residents from Steveston
to 54th Avenue in South Vancouver are likely
to hear the low-flying plane at some point during the
treatment. The aircraft’s spray equipment is GPS
calibrated and controlled, and is only functional when
the plane is over the treatment area.
To avoid conflicting with scheduled flights from
Vancouver International Airport, the spray aircraft may
be held in a holding pattern for short periods over
parts of Vancouver in between spray runs. |
For information on past treatments, view
the "History of Gypsy Moth in BC"
page.
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