County to Squash Mosquitoes by Air Tonight

The county is taking to the air tonight to help Northwest Hillsborough get a handle on its bug population.

A Jet Ranger III helicopter, flying at an altitude of 300 feet above the ground, will begin spraying the pesticide Anvil 10+10 ULV around 8 p.m., Aug. 30. The mission is expected to be over around midnight and will encompass about 40,000 acres in the northwest part of the county, officials say.

The county contracts with Vector Disease Control International to have the spraying performed.

How have the mosquitoes been in the Westchase area this summer? Are you glad the county’s spraying tonight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

Residents may notice the helicopter in the air this evening, but they don’t have to worry about health risks, said Dr. Carlos Fernandes, manager of mosquito and aquatic weed control in the county’s public works department.

“All chemicals used in the operation are approved by the U.S. Environmental Protection Commission (EPA,) which is obligated to fully ascertain a pesticide's potential health and environmental effects as a condition of its registration,” he wrote in an email. “All our applications are made following the recommendations specified by the chemical's label.”

The EPA, Fernandes said, makes sure the public and environment are both protected from “unreasonable risk from runoff, leaching of drift when used according to label specifications.”

Here are the boundaries for tonight’s mosquito-squashing mission:

• Lutz Lake Fern Road to the north
• Old Tampa Bay to the south
• Pinellas County line to the west
• Dale Mabry Highway to the east

For more information, call the county at 813-635-5400.