PA DEP will be conducting an aerial black fly suppression operation on Thursday August 25, 2022 on the Delaware River and Lehigh River. This operation will begin approximately 8:00 AM at Washington Crossing State Park.
- The Delaware River will be treated from Trenton to Slateford, in Bucks and Northampton County.
- The Lehigh will be treated from the Delaware River upstream to approximately Walnutport in Lehigh and Northampton Counties.
The helicopter conducting the treatment will be a Bell 206 Long Ranger with the tail numbers N651HA and is black and silver. DEP personnel will be on site at all landing zones managing the operation.
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. 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. The helicopter will fly low near tree top level scan for people/boats on and near the riverbank and release the Vectobac 12AS (which is a thick brown liquid resembling chocolate milk) at various predetermined positions on the stream.
Additional information:
Vectobac 12AS label
Vectobac 12AS SDS Sheet