PORTLAND, Pa. — Northampton County residents might notice a white helicopter with blue and red stripes hovering over the Lehigh and Delaware rivers starting Monday, an effort to tamp down black fly populations.
- Black fly spraying starts Monday morning in Northampton County
- The state Department of Environmental Protection is spraying over the Lehigh and Delaware rivers
- Officials use a a bacterial larvicide, not a chemical, to tamp down populations
The state Department of Environmental Protection will treat the Delaware River from Trenton to Portland in Bucks and Northampton counties, according to a news release from Northampton County officials. The Lehigh River will be treated from the Delaware River in Northampton County upstream to the area of Lehigh Gap in Lehigh County.
It began 9 a.m. at Washington Crossing State Park, officials said.
There are 37 counties in the state’s Black Fly Suppression Program, including both Lehigh and Northampton counties, and involves monitoring and treating approximately 1,700 miles of 48 rivers and streams across the commonwealth.Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
There are 37 counties in the state’s Black Fly Suppression Program, including both Lehigh and Northampton counties, and it involves monitoring and treating approximately 1,700 miles of 48 rivers and streams across the commonwealth.
The Lehigh River, which this year was added to a list of endangered rivers across the U.S., and the Delaware River are both listed as treated rivers.
“Black flies are about 1/8" in length, and are much smaller than a house fly,” according to the state DEP. “They are often referred to as gnats and they have the annoying habit of swarming around the heads of people on warm days.
“Swatting them is useless as they are quick to return, often flying into people's eyes and sometimes delivering a painful and itchy bite.”
The helicopter conducting treatment in Northampton County will be a white Bell OH58 with blue and red stripes, officials said. DEP personnel will be on-site at all landing zones, managing the operation.
Officials will use Vectobac 12AS, manufactured by Valent Biosciences, to treat the rivers.
“The B.t.i. material is a naturally occurring bacteria (Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis) that kills the immature (larval) form of the black fly when they feed on it in the waterways,” according to the news release. “It is a bacterial larvicide, not a chemical, and is the only product used in Pennsylvania's waterways for black fly suppression.
“B.t.i. is not toxic to fish or other macroinvertebrates found in the treated waterways, and it degrades quickly in the environment.”
Black flies have been a recognized pest of humans and livestock in Pennsylvania since the 1970s.
