Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman has introduced a bill calling for Suffolk County to restrict where and when it uses pesticides to control mosquito populations around tidal marshes.

The bill would limit the use of a chemical pesticide known as methoprene over or near tidal waters, where it has been blamed by fishermen and environmentalists for killing or deforming some aquatic animals like crabs and lobsters. If adopted, the legislation would allow methoprene to be used in tidal marshes and estuaries only if a specific disease, like West Nile virus or eastern equine encephalitis, has been positively identified by county health officials in samples of mosquitoes from the region.

The bill also provides that the county’s Department of Health commissioner...| read more ››