DEP To Spray For Flies Along Delaware River Wednesday

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will be doing an aerial black fly spray Wednesday along the Delaware River in Bucks and Northampton counties as well as Mercer, Hunterdon and Warren Counties in New Jersey.

The spray will begin at approximately 8 a.m. around the Delaware Water Gap, then going south towards Trenton.

The DEP says the spray will target larvae growing in waterways before hatching as black flies. "The black fly suppression program reduces the population, providing relief for outdoor recreation in spring and summer months," the DEP said in an announcement.

According to the DEP:

• Aerial operations involve the application of Vectobac 12AS (a brown, viscous, liquid material that smells like fish oil and has a chocolate milk appearance) from a helicopter.
• The helicopter will apply the Vectobac perpendicular to the river flow in designated areas by flying back and forth across the river and discharging the material from a boom arm.
• The material is then carried downriver. The active ingredient in Vectobac is Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis (B.t.i.), a naturally occurring soil bacterium. A product label and SDS for Vectobac 12AS are available upon request.
• The helicopter will apply the B.t.i. to designated areas every few miles along the treated waterways.
• Application is done by first circling the area to look for people on the ground/in the water or for obstructions in the air. The application of B.t.i. is not toxic to fish or other aquatic macroinvertebrates found in the treated waterways.

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