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9 | O akville B eaver | T hursday,M ay 20,2021 insidehalton.com Interlocking & Concrete Specialists Call Mario 905.842.7171 sunmarlandscape.com ™ La n d s c a p in g 3133 Burnhamthorpe Rd W, Milton, On L9E 0J7 • Pebble Concrete • Stamped Concrete • Interlocking • Flagstone • Walkways • Garage Floors • Patios • Driveways • Curbs (French) Interlocking & Concrete Specialists Communities we serve: Located in Halton region, we work in and around • Milton • Campbellville • Burlington • Aldershot • Hamilton • Oakville • Mississauga • Waterdown • Carlisle Ontario Government Notice Notice of Larvicide (Pesticide) Use for Mosquito Control on Ministry of Transportation Property As part of the Ontario government's commitment to reduce the health risks from West Nile Virus (WNV) in Halton Region, the Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will be conducting a larviciding program to control larval mosquitoes in order to prevent their development into vectors of WNV. Treatments will take place between June and October 2021. The larvicide methoprene (Altosid Briquettes, Registration #27694 under the Pest Control Products Act, Canada) will be applied to catch basins, and Bacillus thuringiensis subspecies israelenisis (otherwise known as BTi Pellets, Registration #18158 under the Pest Control Products Act, Canada) will be applied to stormwater management ponds within the MTO's property. All larvicide will be applied by provincially licensed exterminators and their trained technicians. For more information on the locations and dates of application, please contact MTO at 416-235-5462 (collect calls accepted). ADAMS WINDOW CLEANING & HOME MAINTENANCE Eavestrough Cleaning/ Deck & Fence Repair Phone • Appointment • Social Distance Compliant 647.624.8755 www.http://adamswindowcleaning.ca Open for Business The Town of Oakville has announced it will be taking action to control lo- cal Lymantria Dispar Dis- par moth populations and this will include aerial spraying of select wood- lands in May. Just when you thought the pandemic was all you had to worry about. What's going on with the Lymantria Dispar Dispar moths now? Town staff say that based on population sur- veys conducted in 2020, Oakville faces extreme lev- els of LDD moth infestation this year. The LDD moth is an in- vasive insect whose cater- pillars feed voraciously, mostly on the leaves of leafy trees such as oak. How voraciously? Town staff say this year's infestation could affect 102 hectares (252 acres) of town woodlands and result in a significant loss of trees if no action is taken. Hungry little mon- sters. OK, so what is the town going to do about this? In mid-May, the town will be conducting aerial spraying in 15 woodlands. The spraying will be per- formed by a low-flying heli- copter, between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., and two treatments will be necessary within a few days of each other. Town staff said addition- al ground spraying may oc- cur during the same period to target town trees adja- cent to woodlands that have been identified as high-risk for LDD moth presence. Should I be worried about whatever this heli- copter will be spraying to kill these caterpillars? The Town will be using Bacillus thuringiensis Kur- staki (BtK), which is a bac- teria that occurs naturally in soil and is only poisonous to a certain group of insects when ingested during their larvae or caterpillar stage. Town staff said the use of BtK is approved by the Health Canada Pest Man- agement Regulatory Agen- cy and is permitted under Oakville's pesticide bylaw. They said it has no neg- ative environment or hu- man health effects and will not affect adult moths or butterflies or other benefi- cial insects such as honey- bees, or pets, birds, fish, or mammals. OK, so where is this go- ing to happen? The targets of the aerial spraying include parts of: Buttonbush Woods Park, Bayshire Woods Park, Iro- quois Shoreline Woods Park, Grenville Park, Pelee Woods Park, Elm Road Park, Nottinghill Park, Winston Woods Park and Colonel Williams Woods. You mentioned they have to spray a couple of times. Are there set dates for this and should I take precautions? The spraying is depen- dent on weather so at the moment there are no firm schedules. Once dates are confirmed, they will be posted on oakville.ca and the town's Facebook and Twitter accounts. Residents who live in the vicinity of any of the town woodlands that will be treated and would like to re- ceive 48-hour email notifi- cation can send an email, providing contact informa- tion, to service@oak- ville.ca. Town staff said there are no special precautions re- quired for residents near the spray areas. However, residents may wish to alter their early morning plans such as run- ning or dog walking on spray days or, if preferred, remain indoors and close windows during spraying. There may be some tem- porary noise from the heli- copter. Town staff said there are no health concerns with en- tering the woodlands after trees have been sprayed. Anything else? The designated wood- lands and trails will be closed temporarily during the spray and reopen imme- diately after. Some roads may be closed briefly as the heli- copter passes. Town staff said the aeri- al spraying will not take place over town streets or residential properties. AERIAL SPRAYING SET TO COMBAT INVASIVE MOTHS The Town of Oakville will be spraying for Lymantria Dispar Dispar moth caterpillars this month. Metroland file photo DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com NEWS