Mayor not inclined to join N.J. gypsy moth effort
Jackson's Mark Seda says town may pursue its own ground spraying
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer
With a deadline to apply for the 2008 state gypsy moth spraying program getting closer, Jackson Mayor Mark Seda has a few other ideas about preventing the type of damage that was caused by gypsy moths in Jackson this year.

"Absolutely no way are we going to participate in the state's gypsy moth spraying program," Seda told the Tri-Town News on Nov. 26. "Right now, if it stays the way it is, we're not spraying Bt."

Bt is Bacillus thuringiensis, the chemical used by the state to combat gypsy moths.

Seda said Jackson's Shade Tree Commission chairman is in discussions with the state.

[A manufacturer] "came out with a new chemical and we want to know if the state will adopt this new chemical," he said. "That would cut the cost almost down to nothing. That's in comparison to an almost $500,000 spray."

Aside from that, Seda indicated that he is looking into the cost of purchasing ground spraying equipment that would be placed on the back of a truck. He said the equipment is in the process of being priced out and what officials are doing now is looking at the state's actual map of the spray areas.

"We're looking into how long it will take to actually cover the area," he said. "That would help determine how much it would cost to actually do it ourselves."

Those numbers should be available early next week, Seda said.

"I'm pretty confident we will be able to perform a ground spraying program that will not only take care of gypsy moths, but will take care of mosquitoes, ticks and the like," the mayor said. "I'm not the least worried that this year we will have a problem."

In all probability, Seda said, the state will stay with the Bt aerial spraying program and Jackson will not participate in 2008.

"It doesn't make financial sense for the township because we sprayed in 2005 and we had the same results as if we didn't spray in 2006," said Seda. "So there's no reason to continue with the program, and I'm not going to sit with the same problem and deal with the same phone calls."

Jackson did not participate in the state's aerial spraying program this year, and properties in some parts of the township were hit hard with damage from the gypsy moths. Residents railed against municipal officials' decision not to participate in the state's spraying program and lodged their complaints at town hall.

Seda said he is going to ensure that Jackson is prepared for 2008 and will be prepared early so that officials can have no problem with gypsy moths in the spring.

Township Administrator Phil Del Turco told the Tri-Town News, "We haven't gotten the egg mass levels back from the Department of Agriculture yet. That's the most critical statistic that will determine what we're up against for next year. We need to get the site mappings of the areas that will be affected and then we have to come up with a game plan, so we're hoping to hear from them. We haven't even gotten a letter from them."

Township Engineer Dan Burke said, "I just got off the phone with Joseph Zoltowski (chief plant and pest disease control official at the state Department of Agriculture), who runs the gypsy moth suppression program. He told me some of the letters that went out last week said Dec. 14 [as the deadline for towns to sign up for the spraying program]. Our letter has not gone out yet and he said he still has a pile in front of him that he has to do."

Burke said Jackson's letter may not go out until next week or the week after, so Jackson will not be held to the Dec. 14 date. Instead it may be given a deadline of Dec. 21 or later to state whether it wants to participate in the state's 2008 spraying program.

Burke said he was told the letter will ask for a general commitment, but not a firm commitment as to whether the township will join the state's program. The real commitment will come when the chief financial officer's letter is asked for and that usually arrives in late January or early February.

"The Department of Agriculture representative said the letter will come out with the maps of the areas that they recommend for spraying," Burke said.

He said officials will examine the possibility of using Bt, but may ask the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) about using a more aggressive chemical called Dimilin. That is the chemical Jackson officials asked for last year and the request was turned down, he said.

Del Turco said other chemicals are also being investigated to determine if they might be used to go after the gypsy moths.

Burke said he has been in conference with the Shade Tree Commission and with Jackson's forester to try and determine if there are other alternatives to the state's spraying program.

"We're looking at all the options available to us and the costs," Burke said. "I believe the mayor's position about the use of Bt is that it's not an effective suppressant, as we have learned from past use."

Burke said he has learned from talking with representatives from the state that when you get over a certain egg mass count density then it's not effective and the municipality is just wasting its time.

"If we're looking at areas with significant egg mass densities, using the Bt is too little too late," he said. "It's not going to cut it. It's not going to give us the rate of suppression so we don't get defoliation."

Burke said if the DEP does not concur with the Department of Agriculture's desire to allow for a different spray material, then they will go ahead and use the Bt, knowing that it will not provide the results people might expect.

Del Turco said there are other concerns with more aggressive chemicals that could affect honey bees and other wildlife. He said extreme caution would have to be taken with those chemicals.

"We are anxious to get this egg mass count because we have to see what we're up against," he said. "There's no way to approach a problem if we don't know to what the extent the source is."