DEP Failed Local Residents

By State Representatives Bill Adolph

The phone in my office started ringing off the hook on the afternoon of Tuesday, August 27.  Local residents were confused and concerned – some panicked – about the Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s aerial spraying of an insecticide to control the spread of West Nile Virus.  The spraying was to take place in just a couple of hours.

I had only learned about the planned spraying through contact with local township officials.  People were being warned to stay indoors.  It was noted that children were especially at risk of adverse health effects such as eye, skin, nose or throat irritation or even breathing problems.  Residents were warned to limit their exposure by staying indoors.  Unfortunately, many in the community would never hear these warnings unless they were tuned in to the local news station. 

The Department of Environmental Protection should be ashamed of their performance.  The agency did a tremendous disservice to local residents.  The public notification process was abysmal, with notification via the news media occurring just hours before the planned spraying.  That is far too short a time period to ensure that people were properly made aware of the risks associated with the program and how to limit their exposure.

My office never received any form of notification from the Department of Environmental Protection.  This was an example of the state bureaucracy at its worst.  Local resident deserve better. Much better.

I recently wrote to John Hanger, the acting Secretary of the Pennsylvania DEP, to make him aware of the anger of local residents and to obtain assurances that this serious mistake is never repeated again. 

It is my hope that the DEP heeds the well-founded outrage of the community.  The timing of the public notification was unacceptable and I demanded that the department take steps to ensure an improved public notification process.  The community needs to be made aware of such activities far in advance so that they can take the necessary pre-cautions and steps needed to protect the health and safety of themselves and their children. 

I also requested that in the future, local government be a part of the decision-making process on whether to apply aerial treatments.  This will ensure that residents have a voice going forward, as well as enable local officials to perform their own public notifications – in a much more timely manner -- should spraying be deemed necessary to control the spread of the West Nile Virus.

I appreciate all of the feedback I have received from concerned residents on this matter.  By speaking in a united voice and by making the agency aware of our serious concerns and opposition to the way this spraying was handled, we can hopefully ensure that this unacceptable mistake never happens again.

Representative Bill Adolph represents the 165th Legislative District, which includes portions of Marple, Radnor, Springfield, and Morton.