"The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic."
--- John F. Kennedy, commencement address, Yale University, June 11, 1962)
JFK was right.
Among the myths and shibboleths of the Florida Mosquito Control Association (FMCA) and American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) are that pesticide spraying doesn’t hurt non-target organisms (like you and me).
That’s not just a myth, it’s a lie.
There has never been a programmatic environmental impact statement on mosquito control in Florida. That’s insane. Without baseline data, scientific peer review and public hearings (as required by our Anastasia Mosquito Control Commission of St. Johns County (AMCD) July 2007 Mission Statement), all the “trust me” rhetoric is smoke and mirrors.
County Commissioner Phil Mays was absolutely right to call for investigation and scrutiny of mosquito control. Like Tom Manuel before him, he recognizes that there’s some savings possible and that AMCD could be improved. Two cheers for County Commissioners for voting to delay the rezoning for an AMCD Taj Mahal.
Sounds like Mosquito Control Commissioner VIVIAN BROWNING lacked charm and diplomacy in dealing with County Commissioners (see below). Her remark about a “hijacking” after the County Commission meeting sounds like sour grapes. Her championing consolidation of District operations and building of a new building at I-95 is unadorned by any sort of economic needs analysis. Last year, she said she wanted to “cut corners” at AMCD – a bad idea when you’re dealing with pesticides.
Peter Guinta’s article says that in the event of a hurricane organophosphates would wash out to sea. That’s funny, because the District said it wasn’t going to use organophosphate (OP) neurotoxins (except in hot spots in emergencies), yet refused to define when and where OP spraying may take place, while rejecting an effort to appoint an environmental advisory committee.
Much money could be saved, for example, if St. Johns County ROAD & BRIDGE DEPARTMENT SUPERVISOR JOE STEPHENSON would order his crews to clean out the ditches full of standing water, which breeds mosquitoes. It’s his job. If he won’t do it, AMCD should file a public nuisance lawsuit against St. Johns County and get a judge to order ditch-cleaning.
More money would be saved by AMCD if it put bats in its bat houses and made greater use of non-toxic alternatives (larvicides like Bti and Gambusia fish). AMCD needs to restructure its budget to where there is a line item for environmental monitoring of pesticide effects and another for environmentally-friendly pest controls.
More money would be saved by both AMCD and the County if they’d stop spending money on Taj Mahals – AMCD does not need a new building and for years the County has spent
More money would be saved by both AMCD and the County if they’d stop spending money on flubdubs – neither the County nor AMCD need color copiers or expensive contracts. AMCD is even paying a contractor to cut the grass, when AMCD employees (including managers) could do the job.
Top County and AMCD managers should volunteer for 5% pay cuts, to show we’re all in this together and that the Grand Poohbahs will feel the pain they expect workers to bear.
As to AMCD’s PR piece in Sunday’s record, talking about “grave danger” – let us ask, “Is there any other kind? (as the Jack Nicholson character said in Aaron Sorkin’s play/movie, “A Few Good Men”).
There’s a “grave danger” that organophosphates are killing wildlife and people. So long as AMCD, FMCA and AMCA continue to be bossed and bullied by chemical manufacturers and their salesmen – while refusing to base decisions on sound scientific data – we will continue to question mosquito control.
Get used to it. Ever since Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring,” Americans have been more sophisticated about using poisons to kill bugs when the poisons can kill non-target organisms, including bald eagles (and people). That’s the “grave danger.”
It’s time that Mosquito Control honors its commitment and has real scientific peer review (not “drylabbing” or “warm fuzzies” substituting for real science). No more “junk science,” please.
We need real science at AMCD – not "junk science" or "political science" based on chemical company shibboleths, myths and lies. What do you reckon?
County and AMCD Commissioners can't hide from this issue, for as JFK said, "Dante once said that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality." (upon signing of a charter establishing the German Peace Corps, Bonn, West Germany)(24 June 24, 1963).
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