SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Miami Beach residents have been protesting the city's spraying of the controversial pesticide naled with daily demonstrations outside of the town hall. (Photo: Aixa Amankay/Facebook)
Outraged Miami Residents Shut Down Town Meeting Over Zika Pesticide Spraying
'If you're going to spray, we want a say!' chanted demonstrators
Sep 16, 2016
Outraged Miami Beach residents shut down a city commission meeting on Wednesday evening over the city's widespread spraying of the controversial pesticide naled to combat mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.
"If you're going to spray, we want a say!" the protesters shouted.
The activists and concerned citizens "cursed elected officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mixed messages about aerial spraying over South Beach and refusing to detail all locations where adult mosquitoes have been isolated with the virus," AP reports.
Watch footage of the demonstration here:
Miami Beach residents have been protesting the city's naled spraying with daily demonstrations outside of the city hall.
As Common Dreams has reported, many experts have warned that the city's spraying may be dangerous as well as ineffective.
Aerial spraying of naled in South Carolina also killed millions of honeybees earlier this month. (Widespread bee deaths have also been reported and photographed in the wake of spraying campaigns in Miami Beach.)
Moreover, while "officials call naled safe and effective for killing adult mosquitoes, they also say children should stay inside during spraying," AP notes.
"We don't think this poses a big risk, but people need to avoid unnecessarily being exposed to it. If aerial applications are occurring ... don't let your kids out to play," Jack Housenger, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs, told AP. "If toys are outside, be sure to wash them off."
One commissioner was on the side of the anti-pesticide activists on Wednesday, observing that naled is a neurotoxin, and introduced a resolution to end the spraying. He was met with overwhelming cheers.
But most of the officials had no patience for the protesters. City Commissioner Ricky Arriola dismissed them outright, telling NBC: "You might not like the medicine, but you may have to take a little of it to get the Zika under control."
Despite residents' fears and concerns, the commission as a whole remained firm in its commitment to spraying the controversial pesticide. They did, however, pass a resolution to ask the state of Florida to research other options, CBS Miami reports.
Aerial spraying of naled resumed in Miami Beach on Friday, according to CNN.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Outraged Miami Beach residents shut down a city commission meeting on Wednesday evening over the city's widespread spraying of the controversial pesticide naled to combat mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.
"If you're going to spray, we want a say!" the protesters shouted.
The activists and concerned citizens "cursed elected officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mixed messages about aerial spraying over South Beach and refusing to detail all locations where adult mosquitoes have been isolated with the virus," AP reports.
Watch footage of the demonstration here:
Miami Beach residents have been protesting the city's naled spraying with daily demonstrations outside of the city hall.
As Common Dreams has reported, many experts have warned that the city's spraying may be dangerous as well as ineffective.
Aerial spraying of naled in South Carolina also killed millions of honeybees earlier this month. (Widespread bee deaths have also been reported and photographed in the wake of spraying campaigns in Miami Beach.)
Moreover, while "officials call naled safe and effective for killing adult mosquitoes, they also say children should stay inside during spraying," AP notes.
"We don't think this poses a big risk, but people need to avoid unnecessarily being exposed to it. If aerial applications are occurring ... don't let your kids out to play," Jack Housenger, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs, told AP. "If toys are outside, be sure to wash them off."
One commissioner was on the side of the anti-pesticide activists on Wednesday, observing that naled is a neurotoxin, and introduced a resolution to end the spraying. He was met with overwhelming cheers.
But most of the officials had no patience for the protesters. City Commissioner Ricky Arriola dismissed them outright, telling NBC: "You might not like the medicine, but you may have to take a little of it to get the Zika under control."
Despite residents' fears and concerns, the commission as a whole remained firm in its commitment to spraying the controversial pesticide. They did, however, pass a resolution to ask the state of Florida to research other options, CBS Miami reports.
Aerial spraying of naled resumed in Miami Beach on Friday, according to CNN.
Outraged Miami Beach residents shut down a city commission meeting on Wednesday evening over the city's widespread spraying of the controversial pesticide naled to combat mosquitoes carrying the Zika virus.
"If you're going to spray, we want a say!" the protesters shouted.
The activists and concerned citizens "cursed elected officials and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for mixed messages about aerial spraying over South Beach and refusing to detail all locations where adult mosquitoes have been isolated with the virus," AP reports.
Watch footage of the demonstration here:
Miami Beach residents have been protesting the city's naled spraying with daily demonstrations outside of the city hall.
As Common Dreams has reported, many experts have warned that the city's spraying may be dangerous as well as ineffective.
Aerial spraying of naled in South Carolina also killed millions of honeybees earlier this month. (Widespread bee deaths have also been reported and photographed in the wake of spraying campaigns in Miami Beach.)
Moreover, while "officials call naled safe and effective for killing adult mosquitoes, they also say children should stay inside during spraying," AP notes.
"We don't think this poses a big risk, but people need to avoid unnecessarily being exposed to it. If aerial applications are occurring ... don't let your kids out to play," Jack Housenger, director of the Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Pesticide Programs, told AP. "If toys are outside, be sure to wash them off."
One commissioner was on the side of the anti-pesticide activists on Wednesday, observing that naled is a neurotoxin, and introduced a resolution to end the spraying. He was met with overwhelming cheers.
But most of the officials had no patience for the protesters. City Commissioner Ricky Arriola dismissed them outright, telling NBC: "You might not like the medicine, but you may have to take a little of it to get the Zika under control."
Despite residents' fears and concerns, the commission as a whole remained firm in its commitment to spraying the controversial pesticide. They did, however, pass a resolution to ask the state of Florida to research other options, CBS Miami reports.
Aerial spraying of naled resumed in Miami Beach on Friday, according to CNN.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.