10/10/2007 :
This years aerial-adulticiding contractor was Clarke Mosquito Control Inc.
About 76,000 acres total
were treated with Naled ("Dibrom") using their spray
plane between 9pm and 4am on October 9th 2007. As Clarke was already
doing
some spraying for Martin county, they flew our mission out of the
Stuart airport - returning to re-fill several times - and still managed
to get
everything done before morning.
Previous aerial contractors have included Adapco Inc and Howe Enterprises LLC.
We
have also made use of a spray plane owned by the state of Floridas blackfly
control program in past years.
Because of the
high expenses involved in purchasing and maintaining aircraft,
plus the price of a pilot and insurance for man, machine and public,
the IRMCD
has always opted to bid-out for aerial adulticiding and larviciding services.
Given the type and quantity of aerial work
required in IRC, this has worked out
very well for the District and taxpayers since we only pay for what we need
when we need it.
Lesser
mosquito outbreaks can be handled by our fleet of spray trucks and ground
crew, but the extreme rainfall of the previous weeks created
a huge brood, much of
it in areas of the county where the road grid does not provide enough access for
our spray trucks to achieve
good coverage - pastures, fields, grove and woods
had all filled with water and ground spraying only reaches just so far.
As such,
use of an aircraft to target flying adult mosquitoes was the most effective, and
ultimately most economical, solution.