By Justine Borneman
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
The Baltimore County Council voted unanimously Monday night to partner with two private companies in an attempt to treat the midge population that has become a nuisance to residents in the Back River tidal estuary.
The resolution adopted by the council allows the county to accept donations from the firms to evaluate how effectively it can suppress the midge population through aerial application of an insecticide.
Under the measure, the Valent BioSciences LLC of Libertyville, Illinois, will donate its biological larvicide Bactimos WG and Helicopter Applicators Inc. of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, will donate helicopter airtime to spread the biological agent over a 50-acre area in Back River. The donation from Valent is valued at $8,750 while the helicopter service has an estimated worth of $750.
Midges are non-biting insects commonly found near bodies of water. They can become a public nuisance to residents, agricultural life and recreational activities.
Since the summer of 2010, midges have become a growing problem in Back River, a watershed area that encompasses 73 miles of streams in the southeastern part of the county about two miles east of Baltimore.
The county Department of Environmental Protection and Sustainability (ESP) will be comparing pre-treatment and post-treatment samples of midge larvae in both treated and untreated areas. Post-treatment samples are expected to be taken during the week of Nov. 22.
Gov. Larry Hogan launched a pilot program between 2017 to 2018 to suppress the midge population by using a barge to spread the treatment, but county officials said that application method took too long.
“That first study used a barge to distribute the BTI into the river, which took a very large amount of time,” said David Lykens, the director of ESP. “A helicopter can treat that same area in a much shorter, much quicker period of time.”
In other action, the council voted to approve the use of vehicle height monitoring systems in Baltimore County to enforce local and state laws that restrict large commercial vehicles from operating in certain locations at certain times.
The legislation, which will go into effect on Nov. 28, was proposed by the county Department of Public Works and Transportation.
“Local residents in southeastern and southwestern Baltimore County frequently report that large vehicle traffic shakes their homes, damages the roadways, creates unnecessary congestion in their neighborhoods, emits excessive vehicle pollution and leads to other related quality of life issues,” according to the council’s Nov. 15 fiscal notes.
The bill permits the use of sensory devices that will be able to record images of vehicles that exceed the maximum height limit. The county is limited to operating a maximum of seven cameras at one time.
It authorizes the county to cite the owner of the vehicle and subjects them to civil penalty in line with state law.
Vehicle categories that are exempt from citations include school buses, public transit, utility and emergency vehicles and trash and recycling trucks.
The Department of Public Works and Transportation has not yet defined the locations and times these devices will be operating.