KVRR Local News
Moorhead City Councilman discusses motion to eliminate aerial mosquito control spraying When you look at that public health isn t just human diseases and that is essentially one of the reasons we have vector control.
April 23, 2021
MOORHEAD, Minn. (KVRR) Some Moorhead City Council members are expressing concerns over aerial spraying for mosquito control.
“There’s been quite a bit of community members expressing concern in terms of spraying both aerial spraying as well as ground based spraying. There have been other residents who have also expressed support for the current practices Vector Control use.” Moorhead Ward 4 City Councilor, Steve Lindaas said.
August die-off after aerial spraying sparked widespread furor 7:00 am, Mar. 5, 2021 ×
A monarch butterfly drinks nectar from a thistle flower on Friday, July 10, 2020, at the Monsanto Pollinator Habitat along Center Street in West Fargo. David Samson / The Forum
FARGO Late last summer, a mass die-off of monarch butterflies occurred in the Fargo-Moorhead area after aerial spraying was conducted to control mosquitos.
Images of the aftermath, including photos of dead monarchs, captured the attention of social media as well as national and international mainstream media.
Ultimately, state agencies tasked with regulating pesticide applications determined the aerial sprayer hired by Cass County Vector Control, which conducts aerial spraying to control mosquitoes over the Fargo-Moorhead metro area, committed no violations when it sprayed for mosquitoes the evening of Aug. 26.
Letter: A healthier approach to mosquito control
If all was done correctly on Aug. 26, which is what Cass County Vector Control director Ben Prather and the investigators say, there is only one conclusion: Something is missing from our knowledge about the safe use of permethrin.
Written By:
Barbara Beckman | ×
An insecticide intended to kill the target (mosquitoes) mysteriously kills thousands of non-targets (monarch butterflies). A mosquito weighs about 5 mg; a monarch butterfly weighs about 500 mg.
To get a handle on this size difference, you might compare this to a weed killer that mysteriously destroys 16-foot trees in addition to the intended target: 2-inch weeds.
Bees and butterflies are active for up to two hours after sunset. In order to protect pollinators from aerial or truck mounted pesticide spray, many cities have gone to dusk and night spraying.
KVRR Local News
February 18, 2021
FARGO, N.D. (KVRR) – Cass County Vector Control is informing the public about its mosquito management operations.
Program director Ben Prather’s in-depth presentation at Fargo City Hall on Thursday is one of multiple public meetings being held in Fargo, West Fargo and Moorhead.
The public hearings come following an incident last summer where thousands of monarch butterflies died after aerial spraying took place in Fargo-Moorhead to control mosquitoes.
Four separate investigations found that Cass County Vector Control did not commit any violations.
“We had ag departments in North Dakota and Minnesota and pollution control and environmental quality in these two separate states that looked into this, and they’re comfortable with the labeling and the specificity of the types of products that are being used in mosquito control,” said Prather.