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Ashland council decides spraying will continue By JOHN DARLING ASHLAND - After banning aerial spraying for gypsy moths Tuesday night, the City Council on Wednesday reversed itself and will allow the remaining two helicopter flights. At an impromptu hearing late Tuesday, several people complained of respiratory and skin reactions from the April 24 spraying of 160 acres behind Southern Oregon University. By a 3-2 vote, the council nixed flights planned for Monday and May 17, but after all-morning meetings with state Department of Agriculture officials, the nay-voting council members - Cate Hartzell, Cameron Hanson and John Morrison - joined the rest of the council in a Wednesday noon meeting and voted to allow spraying. Hartzell wanted to explore alternatives for killing the moth caterpillars, as well as better communication with and medical treatment of residents in the spray area. Don Osrow, a resident in the spray area, told council members that his children suffered skin rashes and bloody noses in the days after spraying with Btk, the bacterial insecticide that is the diluted active ingredient in the spray. Inert ingredients make up 97.9 percent of the spray and because of trade secrets, Osrow said, no one in the government or the public knows what's in them. Reactions after the spraying were most likely from pollen stirred up by the helicopter, said Mayor Alan DeBoer. Btk spray is widely used by organic farmers with no ill effects, he said. The bacterium is common in soil, state agriculture officials have said. DeBoer said he called residents in the spray area the day after spraying and found them "adamant" that it should continue, he said. The danger to the Ashland watershed would be "immense" if spraying were halted, he added, because of erosion and fire. Gypsy moth caterpillars are voracious eaters and can strip trees of foliage, leaving them susceptible to disease. Councilman Don Laws supported spraying, he said, because a gypsy moth infestation would wipe out trees, especially pines, and likely spread throughout the region. On the other hand, he noted, any harm to humans appears "not clear and fairly minimal." The Oregon Department of Agriculture recommends people stay indoors for 30 minutes after spraying and that those with immune disorders leave the area during spraying. Residents should not touch grass or shrubs until the spray has dried and should hose off all playground equipment or lawn chairs. Those exposed to the spray should wash the exposed area for 15 minutes. Monday's spray flight is scheduled just before sunrise, weather permitting. John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.