My Community Kills Bees (and who knows what else?)

Last night, my wife Emery, five-month old son Declan and I decided to go downtown to get some ice cream on a warm summer evening. As we were walking out to the car, a truck came by spraying for mosquitos. What???

I started running towards my car and threw Declan and his car seat into the car and slammed the door. My wife and I unfortunately had the cloud of toxic chemical flow right past us. I was beyond upset.

So I called Anne Arundel County this morning. It turns out that our West Annapolis Community ASKED for this crap. Unreal. I never got any notice and our community association is weakly organized at best. There is NO online website or place on the web to find contact information except for a website that was last updated in February 2007.

The gentlemen with Anne Arundel County whom I spoke with this morning was very nice. He told me that the driver should have turned off the mist spray whenever anyone was near. This driver did no such thing and he no doubt saw me running with my my infant to get him out of the spray. Well, I am now (after the fact) able to exempt my property from this toxic gas. What parent in their right mind would chose THIS over a few bumps on their child's skin? People are so screwed up with their priorities.

Here are some highlighted hazards that my community actually ASKED to have sprayed into our lives:

HAZARDS TO HUMANS AND DOMESTIC ANIMALS
Caution. Causes moderate eye irritation. Harmful if swallowed, absorbed through skin or inhaled. Avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing. Avoid breathing vaporor spray mist. Wash thoroughly with soap and water after handling and before eating, drinking, chewing gum, or using tobacco. Prolonged or frequently repeat-ed skin contact may cause allergic reactions in some individuals. Remove contaminated clothing and wash before reuse.

ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
This product is extremely toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. Do not apply directly to water, to areas where surface water is present or to intertidal areasbelow the mean high water mark. Do not apply when weather conditions favor drift from treated areas. Drift and runoff from treated areas may be hazardous toaquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Do not contaminate water when disposing of equipment washwaters. This product is highly toxic to bees exposed todirect treatment on blooming crops or weeds. Do not apply this product or allow it to drift to blooming crops or weeds while bees are actively visiting the treat-ment area. Do not allow spray treatment to drift on pasture land, crop land (other than crops listed), or water supplies.

Incidentally, I thought we were supposed to be concerned about massive honey bee die-offs. But here in West Annapolis, we requested their demise in order to hopefully prevent a few bug bites.

My family and I live amongst fools.

If you think your community might be getting poisoned with this crap, here is a form you can use to EXEMPT your property. Click HERE to view and print the form.

-Dan