School officials decline offer for ground spraying
BY DAVE BENJAMIN Staff Writer

JACKSON - Administrators in the Jackson School District declined an offer from the township to conduct ground spraying for gypsy moths.

Municipal officials made an offer to use the chemical Talstar on areas near the schools.

"Our (schools') sensitive areas are covered by what the state is doing, and that is sufficient," said Allison Erwin, the communications specialist for the Jackson School District.

The state will be conducting an aerial spraying program over areas of Jackson that will be subject to a significant gypsy moth infestation this spring.

Mayor Mark Seda said Shade Tree Commission Chairman Steve Chisholm Sr. made the recommendation about spraying the school property from the ground. The mayor said he offered the spraying service to the school district if administrators wanted a contact spray, which Talstar is.

"The reason for the offer was because we know that the state program is not going to work," Seda said.

Parts of Jackson were hit hard in 2007 by voracious gypsy moth caterpillars that defoliated trees. The township did not participate in the state's aerial spraying program last year. Jackson is paying the state about $500,000 to participate in the aerial spraying program this year.

"Talstar is as safe as any other pesticide out there, from what I understand," Seda said. "That's why that recommendation was being made."

As of Monday, Seda said he had not been notified that the school district was declining the township's offer.

Chisholm Sr. said the state plan is to spray fromMay 6 to June 5 starting in the very southern part of the state. In southern New Jersey the gypsy moth eggs hatched three weeks ago. The state will be spraying Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt).

Steve Chisholm Jr. of Aspen Tree Experts said Talstar is approved by the state Department of Environmental Protection. He said Seven is also used for gypsy moths when applied by a hand-held spray container.

"Talstar is used from the ground and it has good effectiveness," he said. "An hour later they are falling out of the trees, dead. It's approved by the state and the feds."

The eggs hatched last week in different areas, he said.

"The (caterpillars) are very small until the weather heats up and their appetites increase," Chisholm Jr. said. "The sooner you get them, the less damage they're going to do."

According to a state Department of Agriculture advisory, Jackson received notice that May 6 was the preliminary date for the aerial spraying to begin throughout the state.

Township Administrator Phil Del Turco said the township has not been notified as to the exact date the spraying will take place in Jackson. He said when Jackson is notified, that information will be placed on the township's Internet Web site, www.jacksontwpnj.net.