DOVER, DE — School is in full swing but the official end of summer does not mean the end of mosquito season. Mosquitoes can breed and bite for another several weeks in Delaware. To prevent the spread of Zika and any mosquito-borne illness, the Division of Public Health (DPH) and Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) reminds you that stopping the mosquito bite is still the best protection against disease.

Delaware now has 15 Zika cases, including four not previously announced. All cases were caused by mosquito bites while traveling abroad. There is currently no evidence that local mosquitoes are transmitting the illness. All but one of the Delaware Zika cases are in adults and none are pregnant. One of the most recent cases is in an infant who got the illness while traveling abroad. All individuals have recovered well and are showing no long-term effects at this time. Of the 15 Delaware cases, nine are in New Castle County and three each are in Kent and Sussex counties.

It is possible that someone who is traveling abroad and gets bitten by a mosquito carrying Zika virus could bring the disease back to Delaware. A returning traveler carrying Zika could be bitten by a Delaware mosquito that picks up the virus, bites another person and transmits the disease as they feed on their blood. This is likely how Zika spread to south Florida and much of Latin America and the Caribbean. The mosquito of greatest concern in Delaware for possible local transmission of Zika is the Asian tiger mosquito, commonly found where people live, work, and play.

None of the 15 Delaware individuals confirmed with Zika could locally transmit the virus if bitten by a mosquito now. After about seven days of exposure, the virus clears from the blood so the individual can no longer transmit it to others through a mosquito bite. However, it is still possible for the adults to transmit the disease sexually, and DPH has instructed any provider treating a patient with a positive test on how to prevent sexual transmission.

“At Public Health, our biggest concern remains for pregnant women because we know that a fetus infected with Zika can have devastating consequences,” said DPH Director Dr. Karyl Rattay. “We are still telling pregnant women to avoid countries where Zika transmission is active and their sexual partners to be tested if they recently traveled to those areas. If the sexual partner has confirmed Zika, the couple should abstain from sex or use condoms and other barrier methods until the baby is born.”

Women who are trying to become pregnant and have been diagnosed with Zika virus or have symptoms of Zika, should wait at least eight weeks after symptoms first appeared before trying to conceive. Men who have been diagnosed with Zika virus or have symptoms are advised to wait at least six months after symptoms first appeared before having vaginal, oral, or anal unprotected sex.

To learn more about which countries have active Zika visit the CDC’s website here. Delaware Public Health and DNREC both provide fact sheets on the Zika virus, as found here.

“Most of us think that once the kids go back to school, we don’t need to worry about mosquito bites,” said DNREC Mosquito Control Administrator William Meredith. “But mosquitoes can continue to breed and bite until the first hard frost which can be as late as November. We still need to be vigilant in protecting against bites and reducing mosquito populations.”

To reduce the risk of mosquito bites, use Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registered insect repellents; stay in places with air conditioning or that use window or door screens to keep mosquitoes outside; sleep under a mosquito bed net if you are outside and not able to protect yourself from mosquitoes; treat clothing and gear with permethrin available in pharmacies or purchase permethrin-treated items; and wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants. And, do not allow any standing water or puddles near your home.

To learn more about how to reduce mosquitoes around your home, two videos with information about Zika virus and backyard water sanitation tips also are available on DNREC’s YouTube Channel: Zika Virus, Mosquitoes and You, and Mosquito Control & Your Backyard.

To report intolerable numbers of biting mosquitoes and request local relief, residents are encouraged to call Mosquito Control’s field offices:
• Glasgow Office, 302-836-2555, serving New Castle County and the northern half of Kent County, including Dover
• Milford Office, 302-422-1512, serving the southern half of Kent County south of Dover and all of Sussex County
• For more information about Delaware’s Mosquito Control program, call the field offices or the main Dover office at 302-739-9917, or visit de.gov/mosquito.

Zika is a generally mild illness caused by a virus primarily transmitted through the bite of infected Aedes mosquitoes. About one in five people infected with the virus develop the disease, and most people who are infected do not develop symptoms. The most common symptoms of Zika virus infection are fever, rash, joint pain, and conjunctivitis (red eyes). However, while it is often mild, Zika has been linked to serious birth defects in infants whose mothers were infected during the pregnancy and rare but serious health complications in adults.

A person who is deaf, hard-of-hearing, deaf-blind or speech-disabled can call the DPH phone number above by using TTY services. Dial 7-1-1 or 800-232-5460 to type your conversation to a relay operator, who reads your conversation to a hearing person at DPH. The relay operator types the hearing person’s spoken words back to the TTY user. To learn more about TTY availability in Delaware, visit http://delawarerelay.com.

Delaware Health and Social Services is committed to improving the quality of the lives of Delaware’s citizens by promoting health and well-being, fostering self-sufficiency, and protecting vulnerable populations. DPH, a division of DHSS, urges Delawareans to make healthier choices with the 5-2-1 Almost None campaign: eat 5 or more fruits and vegetables each day, have no more than 2 hours of recreational screen time each day (includes TV, computer, gaming), get 1 or more hours of physical activity each day, and drink almost no sugary beverages.

Informational workshop set for Sept. 13 at State Street Commons in Dover

DOVER (Aug. 29, 2016)– DNREC’s Division of Watershed Stewardship is now accepting project proposals for matching grants for community water quality improvement projects. Delaware non-profit organizations, conservation districts, community organizations and homeowner’s associations are eligible to apply. Proposals must be received by 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26, 2016.

Community Water Quality Improvement Grants assist in implementing projects or programs to improve water quality on developed lands consistent with specific plans developed for watershed improvements. Programs and projects selected will demonstrate innovative and sustainable methods, techniques, and/or practices for water quality improvements, with cost effective and measurable results. Projects will be recommended for funding by the Delaware Water Infrastructure Advisory Council through a competitive grant process.

Funding for projects receiving a grant award in this cycle is anticipated to range from $25,000 minimum to $75,000 maximum. This grant requires a 25 percent cash match which may be federal, state, or local cash. Applicants may submit up to two project proposals per grant cycle.

An informational workshop will be held 1 – 3 p.m. Sept. 13 at State Street Commons, Commons Training Center, 100 W. Water Street, Dover, DE 19904. Pre-registration is required by Sept. 8 by contacting Sharon Webb, Nonpoint Source Pollution Program, at 302-739-9922.

Proposals must be submitted by email by 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 to Sharon.Webb@delaware.gov (Subject: Community Water Quality Improvement Grant). Proposals submitted by email must be less than 10 MB. Project guidelines and the application can be found on DNREC’s website on the Environmental Finance page. For more information, contact Sharon Webb at 302-739-9922.

Media Contact: Melanie Rapp, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.

Vol. 46, No. 318

DOVER (Aug. 19, 2016) – DNREC’s Division of Fish & Wildlife has been awarded a federal grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to support Delaware’s ongoing research and monitoring and response to White-nose Syndrome (WNS), a disease that causes mortality in bats and has taken a severe toll on hibernating North American bat species since it was discovered almost 10 years ago. 

Characterized by a white fungus visible on a bat’s nose, wings, tail and ears, WNS is transmitted primarily by contact between bats and since first discovered in New York in the winter of 2006-2007, has spread at an alarming rate and is now confirmed in 29 states and five Canadian provinces. According to the USFWS, while the disease is not known to impact human, pet or livestock health, WNS has caused the death of 5.7 to 6.7 million bats in North America. In Delaware, WNS related deaths were first confirmed in 2012 among bats hibernating in Fort Delaware and Fort DuPont in New Castle County.

The 2016 grant marks the seventh year that DNREC has received funding from the USFWS’s Endangered Species Recovery and Science Applications program to help fight the disease, with this year’s funding totaling $22,693.

“Bats are important to Delaware’s ecology, feeding on millions of insects, including mosquitoes, beetles, moths and agricultural pests, and in so doing, also helping us ward off potential threats to public health and the food supply,” said DNREC Secretary David Small. “Now we are trying to reciprocate with our concern over the bats’ health by working to help bats recover from WNS. Since 2009, DNREC has been monitoring the state’s bat populations and working with the public to limit the spread of WNS. Thanks to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service funding, we can continue strengthening our response to this disease that has been devastating to North American bats.”

Only bat species that hibernate are known to be affected by WNS, including such species as the little brown, big brown, tri-colored, northern long-eared and eastern small-footed bats – all found in Delaware. The northern long-eared and little brown bats are among the most severely impacted by WNS. Because of these bats’ dramatic population declines, the northern long-eared and little brown bats were added to Delaware’s list of endangered species in 2014, and the northern long-eared bat was listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in May 2015.

“The cave-like conditions at Fort Delaware provide ideal temperature and humidity levels for bats to hibernate and for the fungus that causes WNS to survive,” said DNREC Biologist Holly Niederriter, who heads the Division of Fish & Wildlife’s bat monitoring efforts. ”WNS continues to be a threat to bats that hibernate there. Our winter surveys at the Fort have shown a steady decline in bat numbers, with 40 percent fewer bats counted in 2015 compared to 2013.”

Hundreds of locations within Fort Delaware have been tested for the presence of the fungus that causes WNS, and potential methods for reducing the amount of fungus there have been evaluated. The microscopic spores of WNS can easily hitch a ride on shoes, clothing, cameras and backpacks, which led biologists to develop a plan in 2012 that prevents Fort Delaware visitors from inadvertently spreading the fungus from the Fort to unaffected areas. In addition, these grant funds were used to produce interpretive signs and an interactive kiosk to show Fort visitors the importance of bats and how to protect them.

 “This USFWS grant provides much needed funds that will be used to collect data that will help us determine how to best protect Delaware’s bat species from WNS and implement strategies that will decrease the chances of spreading the disease to other bat sites,” Niederriter said. “We’ll also be using the funding to continue our efforts to educate visitors at Fort Delaware about bats and WNS.”

Delaware’s grant was part of almost $1 million in funding for natural resource agencies in 34 states and the District of Columbia that were announced by USFWS Northeast Regional Director Wendi Weber. “A state’s response to white-nose syndrome depends on how long the disease has been there or how close they are to known occurrences,” said Weber, who is also co-chair of the WNS Executive Committee. “Where it has been established, the focus is on increasing survival of bats. On the leading edge of the disease front, it’s also on limiting the spread, and where the disease has not been discovered, it’s on preventing the arrival of WNS. With this funding, we’re happy to help the states on all fronts to defeat this deadly disease.”

The Division of Fish and Wildlife is continuing its volunteer bat count project to search for bat colonies, monitor bats for signs of WNS and assess possible changes in bat populations. Delaware residents are encouraged to contact Holly Niederriter, DNREC Division of Fish and Wildlife at 302-735-8651 for more information.

For more information on bats in Delaware, please visit http://www.dnrec.delaware.gov/fw/bats. To report a bat colony or unusual bat behavior, please call 302-735-8651.

Wilmington, DE – In a guest weekly message, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) Secretary David Small highlights the natural scenic beauty of Delaware as well as the opportunity to leverage our natural resources to improve the quality of life and drive economic growth.

“Attention to our natural resources isn’t just about environmental protection – we must recognize and take advantage of how they contribute to our economy and the quality of life,” Sec. Small said. “I hope you are finding time this summer to experience our great outdoors and to see first-hand why a commitment to our conservation economy will keep Delaware moving forward.”

Every week, the Governor’s office releases a new Weekly Message in video, audio, and transcript form. The message is available on:

YouTube: https://youtu.be/N43lWG2Tsbo
Delaware.Gov:http://governor.delaware.gov/podcast_video.shtml
By email: Please contact our press team to subscribe to our press list
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/governormarkell
Twitter: www.twitter.com/governormarkell

Transcript of the Governor’s Weekly Message: Conserving Natural Resources to Build Our Economy

DOVER – Delaware has again taken action to reduce air quality and public health impacts from upwind sources through a DNREC petition asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to find that the Harrison Power Station near Haywood, W. Va., with its three large coal-fired electric generating units, is emitting air pollutants in violation of the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for harmful ozone.

As with a CAA 126 petition filed last month by DNREC against the Brunner Island power plant in York County, Pa., the Department argues that Delaware’s air quality is often adversely affected every summer by unhealthy ozone, with a number of NAAQS ozone exceedances having already occurred this year, and a likelihood of more to come so long as sources such as the Harrison Power Station and Brunner Island continue emitting pollutants without proper controls, particularly nitrogen oxide (NOx). Computer modeling, using EPA-approved methods, has confirmed that both the Brunner Island and Harrison power plants produce air pollution that carries into Delaware, resulting in exceedances of the health-based ozone air quality standard. Exceedances of the ozone NAAQS contribute to increasing incidents of asthma, respiratory disease and other health problems for Delawareans.

DNREC’s latest petition reiterates that problematic ozone is not of Delaware’s doing – that all emission sources within the state are “well controlled” but that outside sources skew the state’s air quality readings and bring with them debilitating health issues. DNREC Secretary David Small again noted in the 126 petition that more than 94 percent of the ozone levels in Delaware are created by the transport of air pollutants from upwind states, while DNREC has worked with power producers and manufacturers in Delaware to sharply reduce emissions within the state’s borders.

“We are again petitioning the EPA to act on the fact that our ability to achieve and maintain health-based air quality standards is severely impacted by sources outside of the state of Delaware,” Secretary Small said. “Our position has been corroborated by EPA’s own modeling technology – that West Virginia’s emissions significantly impact Delaware – and we are petitioning EPA to reduce that impact and the encompassing health threats foisted on Delawareans through harmful ozone that comes from outside our borders.”

Secretary Small also said that Delaware is continuing to assess the impact of other electric generating facilities in the upwind states and that additional Clean Air Act 126 petitions may be developed in the near future. Some of the states where these power plants exist do not have regulatory requirements for installing highly-effective NOx emissions controls, while still other states do not require the power plants to consistently operate existing NOx controls at high levels of efficiency.

Before DNREC’s Clean Air Act 126 petition to EPA, West Virginia had proposed more stringent NOx emissions limitations for the Harrison power plant. However, DNREC’s Division of Air Quality reviewed the proposed NOx emission rate limitations and determined that, even if implemented, the new rate limits will not mitigate the Harrison plant’s significant impact on Delaware’s air quality.

Delaware’s 126 petition to EPA also notes that the Harrison Power Station is outfitted with very effective post-combustion NOx emissions controls, but that the facility does not consistently operate those controls. Coal-burning units 1, 2 and 3 at the plant – installed in 1972, 1973, and 1974, respectively – all are equipped with low NOx burners (LNBs) and selective catalytic reduction (SCR) NOx emission controls as installed between 13 and 15 years ago, but these controls are used sparingly thus contributing to Delaware’s cross-state air transport problems. When the plant’s SCRs are not deployed, emissions are several times higher and more detrimental to ozone levels than when the reduction devices are operating at high levels of NOx control.

Health issues are central in Delaware’s appeals to EPA. Short-term exposure to ozone such as Delaware experiences each summer can cause rapid, shallow breathing and related airway irritation, coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and exacerbation of asthma, particularly in sensitive individuals and asthmatic children. Short term-exposure also suppresses the immune system, making bodily defenses vulnerable to bacterial infections. Children, the elderly, those with chronic lung disease, and asthmatics are especially susceptible to the pulmonary effects of ozone exposure.

Section 126(b) of the Clean Air Act requires that within 60 days after the EPA’s receipt of any petition (and after a public hearing), the EPA administrator will make such a finding as requested, requiring the Harrison Power Station to limit short term NOx emissions to levels that are protective of the 8-hour ozone NAAQS in downwind areas such as Delaware, or deny the petition.

CONTACT: Michael Globetti, DNREC Public Affairs, 302-739-9902

Vol. 46, No. 297

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