At its meeting yesterday evening in Hauppauge, the Suffolk County Legislature overwhelmingly approved a landmark bill introduced by Legislator Jon Cooper (D-Huntington) that will allow Suffolk residents to enter their names on a "No Spray List" to prevent their homes from being sprayed with chemical pesticides to control the adult mosquito population. The final vote was 15-3 in support of the measure.
The legislation requires Suffolk County's Department of Public Works to modify its Vector Control Plan for 2001 to create a registry of county residents who do not want chemical pesticides sprayed in the vicinity of their homes. The DPW will be required to make a "good faith effort" to exclude each registrant's property by stopping ground spraying from trucks within 150 feet of each property on the list. The legislation also creates an Aerial Spraying Committee which will determine the best method to implement the "No Spray List" for aerial applications.
The nine-member committee will be made up of representatives from the County Executive, the County Legislature, the Department of Public Works, the DPW's Division of Vector Control, the Department of Health Services, the Division of Information Resources, as well as environmental and breast cancer advocacy groups. The committee will produce a report of its findings by September 15, 2001.
"The 'No Spray List' bill balances public health needs with the rights of Suffolk residents who do not want chemical pesticides sprayed on their homes," Cooper said today. "This ground-breaking program will be the first of its kind in New York State and the most comprehensive in the nation. It will set an example for other vector control programs throughout the country."
Adrienne Esposito, Associate Executive Director of Citizens Campaign for the Environment, lobbied
hard in favor of the bill. "For many people, living pesticide-free is a serious personal choice, and
government should not interfere. Legislator Cooper's visionary legislation will provide the public with a well-deserved option to live free of chemical pesticides."
Laura Weinberg, a member of the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition, appeared before the Legislature to testify in support of the bill. "Everyone deserves the right not to have their property sprayed with toxic pesticides, especially vulnerable women who have had breast cancer and are trying to eliminate their exposure to toxins." Karen Miller, environmental spokesperson for the HBCAC, was elated to hear that the bill had passed and said, "Many of our neighbors with compromised health applaud Legislator Cooper for giving them the chance to make a choice."
Cooper's legislation includes a clause indicating that the "No Spray List" will not apply if Suffolk County's Health Commissioner were ever to declare a health emergency in a given area.
