Denton County Finalizes Aerial Spraying Plans

Four planes to spray nearly 273,000 acres on Thursday, Friday nights

Denton County met with city leaders on Wednesday to put the finishing touches on the county's aerial spraying plan.

Spraying will take place Thursday and Friday nights from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Flight paths and plans would be finalized on Thursday, said Caleb Stitely, a spokesman for Dynamic Aviation, the company doing the spraying. The company will monitor the winds from Tropical Storm Isaac to see if it will affect spraying, he said.

Four planes would spray nearly 273,000 acres in Denton County, Stitely said. The planes began arriving at the Denton Municipal Airport on Wednesday afternoon.

Keith Copp, who owns Garden Ridge Farmers' Market in Lewisville, said he is concerned about the aerial spraying. Copp said his business depends on insects such as bees to profit.

"The bees are a very important part of what we do here in our food chain, especially when black-eyed peas are blooming, okras blooming," he said. "They [the bees] don't know what's coming."

Jaime Moore, who works for Denton County Emergency Services, said county leaders addressed such concerns at Wednesday's meeting.

"Bees are in their hives at night, so they aren't going to be affected, and the great thing about the chemical and its degradation process is, when the UV light hits the chemical, it's gone, so by the time the bees become active in the morning, there will be no residual chemical left over," he said.

Moore said the chemicals that will be used are safe for humans and pets. The planes will spray the municipalities that opted for the spraying twice -- once on Thursday and again on Friday night.

"If someone wanted to be abundantly cautious, they could not be outdoors during the spraying," he said. "If they have an organic garden, they could cover that with plastic and plastic tarp."

The county said it would avoid locations such as football stadiums holding Thursday and Friday night games.

Dynamic Aviation will live-tweet its aerial spraying of Denton County on its Twitter account @AerialMosquito.

NBC 5's Omar Villafranca contributed to this report.

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