DEP To Conduct Black Fly Suppression Operations Along The Delaware

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection will be conducting aerial blackfly suppression operations on Friday, May 3 along the Delaware River between Easton and Trenton.

The operation will begin at about 8 a.m. at Braden Air Park in Easton and will be treating areas along the river from the Easton area south to Trenton.

The helicopter conducting the treatment - a white Bell 206 Longranger with blue stripes and the tail numbers N660HA - will be flying low near tree top level scanning for people and boats on and near the riverbank as it releases Vectobac 12AS (a thick brown liquid resembling chocolate milk) at various predetermined locations.

DEP personnel will be on-site at all landing zones managing the operation.

According to the Bucks County Department of Health, Helicopter Applicators Inc. will be dispersing Vectobac 12AS, which is a Bti product manufactured by Valent Biosciences. Bti is short for Bacillus thuringiensis var. israelensis, which is a bacterial larvicide, not a chemical, and is the only product used in Pennsylvania's waterways for black fly suppression.

Health department officials said 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. This application of B.t.i. is not toxic to fish or other aquatic macroinvertebrates found in the treated waterways.