Dear Editor,
I just finished reading The Tribune’s front page article from last week regarding the discontinuance of mosquito spraying into Tallassee’s air.
Thank you councilmember David Stough and area beekeepers who led the charge to stop this unhealthy practice and protect Tallassee’s citizens from being forced to breathe toxic mosquito repellent. Citizens appreciate such bravery and concern form public officials to safeguard the public health even when it’s an unpopular idea.
The mosquito spray used, Mosquito Master 412, is known to be harmful to humans, animals, aquatic organisms and is highly toxic to bees. Plus, it must be stored in a climate-controlled space for safety. Could it possibly explode or start a fire? This sounds like really bad stuff.
If Tallassee has been spraying this type poison into the air for the past 50 years, could that possibly be a factor of respiratory problems and cancer in Tallassee, even in children?
The article stated Mayor Johnny Hammock was concerned about mosquito-borne Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), but the mayor doesn’t need to worry about that as Alabama had only one case of EEE in 2019 and that was the first since 2014 and there are only about seven cases a year in the entire United States.
A more realistic concern should be about the coronavirus, as citizens are far more likely to contract COVID-19 than the extremely rare EEE. There have been more than 21,000 known Alabama COVID-19 cases and more than 700 deaths so far in 2020 and we’re less than halfway into the year.
Linda Coppinger
Tallassee
