County near Jacksonville nixes mosquito spraying after pushback

GREEN COVE SPRINGS, Fla. (AP) Commissioners in one Florida county canceled plans for aerial spraying to combat an exploding mosquito population in response to more than 300 emails, phone calls and comments from concerned citizens.

Instead of spraying the insects from the air, Clay County agricultural extension office director Brad Burbaugh says crews using two trucks will begin spraying an insecticide along some 1,400 miles of roads.

Burbaugh says ground spraying is slower because the trucks can’t go more than 15 miles per hour while spraying. He says naled, the product they’d planned to use in aerial spraying is EPA-approved, but officials wanted to be responsive to residents’ concerns.

Since Hurricane Irma’s floodwaters, many people had complained about mosquito infestations. No cases of Zika or West Nile disease have been reported.

Aerial and ground mosquito control efforts are underway in Lee and Collier counties.