Methoprene Spraying Struggle Continues

Kevin McAllister’s campaign to ban methoprene, a mosquito larvicide that is believed to harm lobsters, crabs, and other nontarget species, is proceeding, in the face of the Suffolk County Legislature’s approval of its continued use this year.

The founder and president of Defend H20 and the former Peconic Baykeeper told the East Hampton Town Trustees on Tuesday that Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. has sponsored a bill prohibiting the use of methoprene in any fish habitat in any municipality adjoining Long Island Sound and/or the Atlantic Ocean, along with their connecting water bodies, bays, harbors, shallows, and marshes. Methoprene could only be applied on an emergency basis as determined by the County Health Department.

While methoprene’s use is intended to prevent the spread of West Nile virus, “it has the unintended consequence of killing lobster larvae,” according to the bill, “as well as contributing to lobster shell disease.” The larvicide must be banned in order for New York State’s lobster populations to grow to sustainable levels, says the bill.

The prohibition, should it become law, would take effect on Jan. 1, 2017.

“What is needed is a Senate sponsor,” Mr. McAllister told the trustees, who have sent letters to the county stating their opposition to methoprene since at least 2008. He said he would ask State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle Jr. for his support at the senator’s annual environmental roundtable, to be held today in Riverhead.

He asked the trustees to make their opposition known to the county. “My feeling is, as we’re in the winter months, sometime around April, May, they start to think about applications of larvicide,” he said. “This is an opportunity to move the county legislature to make an amendment to that work plan removing methoprene’s use.”

Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, or Bti, is an effective alternative, he said, one which, unlike methoprene, is believed to affect few nontarget species.

Mr. McAllister also asked the trustees to make their opposition known at the state level. In September, Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) wrote to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo asking that New York follow his state’s 2013 ban of methoprene and the adulticide resmethrin in coastal areas.

In a potential third course of action, Mr. McAllister said, the board would exercise its jurisdiction over tidal wetlands. “It comes down to a land issue, not allowing them to come in,” he said, referring to the county.

The county’s vector control division allows property owners to join a “no-spray” registry, said Tyler Armstrong, a trustee. As owners of the town’s beaches and waterways on behalf of the public, he asked, could the trustees join the registry? Mr. McAllister thought they could, but noted that the registry applies only to adult mosquito control and not methoprene.

Diane McNally, a trustee and the body’s former clerk, suggested creation of a town mosquito control district, echoing a suggestion made last year by Deborah Klughers, a former trustee. On the North Fork, the Orient Mosquito District was founded in 1960.

In other news from the meeting, Town Supervisor Larry Cantwell issued a proclamation thanking John Courtney, the trustees’ longtime attorney who was not reappointed in the wake of the new board’s Democratic majority, for his years of service to the trustees and as a member of the town’s Planning Board.

“What I always respected about John was, even when we might disagree, John would always try to find a solution to a problem,” Mr. Cantwell said. “He was always willing to try to find common ground without undermining the rights or his representation of a client, whether a private client, or, for the most part, the town trustees.”

In several instances, Mr. Courtney’s counsel was invaluable in confirming the town and the public’s rights and jurisdiction, Mr. Cantwell said. “The Town of East Hampton and the town trustees express sincere appreciation and thanks from the community and on behalf of all of our residents for the honor of the time, experience, and advice offered by John Courtney, attorney.”

Mr. Courtney noted that 2016 marks the 330th anniversary of the Dongan Patent, which created the board of trustees. “When I talked to my wife tonight and told her I was not going to come home from work until this meeting, she said, ‘Tell the trustees, stay  strong.’ ”

“That’s exactly what they have done for the last 330 years. That’s what I trust you guys will continue to do: [Stay] strong in the face of government opposition, private opposition, lawsuits, everything else. Just stay strong. You’re here to protect the public’s rights.”