As Minot gets set to welcome thousands of people for the North Dakota State Fair, the city is also preparing to get rid of some unwanted guests before fair-goers arrive. Tomorrow evening a mosquito spraying program will get underway with the help of the United State's Air Force. A specially equipped C-130 from Youngstown Air Reserve Station in Ohio will fly over Minot spraying a chemical that targets mosquitoes. The spraying effort has taken place in the Magic City for a number of years with positive results in mosquito reduction, but it also has raised concerns from a few people who are sensitive to chemicals. Don Teig is an Entomologist with the vector control unit out of Ohio. He says the chemical that is used is specific to mosquitoes and has no residual effect to the environment... (Don Teig, Med. Entomologist) We spray small droplets usually 30 microns or less and these adhere to the legs of the mosquitoes. That kills the mosquitoes but we only have to use a half an ounce an acre and that way we're able to control what we need to kill without causing any other harm to the environment, any harm to people or any other pets. To effectively knock down the airborne mosquitoes, the C-130 aircraft will be flying 150 feet above the city of Minot as it sprays. Flight navigator Chinky Kochansky says the flight path is much different from what most people are used to seeing over the city... (Maj. Chinky Kochansky, Navigator) Because Minot sits down in a bowl, it may appear that we're even lower. So depending on where you live on the north side of Minot, maybe on the plateau, or even on the south side on some of the hills down there it will appear that we are a lot lower than 150 feet but we are going to do our best to follow the contour of the land and that's why it may create an optical illusion where it seems that we are a lot lower than we actually are. The C-130 will be spraying over the Minot Air Force Base tonight and will begin spraying in Minot between 8 pm and 10 pm tomorrow night.
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