SURREY (NEWS1130) – The weather has delayed the second round of spraying for Gypsy moths in Surrey and North Delta. It was scheduled for early this morning but will continue later this week.

But not everyone is happy to see the choppers flying over their neighbourhood.

“It was 5:30 a.m. [I was] having my morning coffee with the thunderous roar of helicopters over my head,” says Ryan Bennett, describing the first round of spraying.

Bennett is circulating a petition, calling on for a moratorium on using the Foray 48B insecticide.

“We feel that this is a collective human rights issue. We, the people of Surrey, do not wish to be sprayed,” he tells us.

“We’re not asking that this necessarily be stopped indefinitely. We’re asking that it be put in front of the Environmental Appeals Board.”

But Tim Ebata with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations says that opportunity has come and gone.

“The decision to grant the permit could have been appealed through the Environmental Appeal Board. That opportunity passed in March and unfortunately that process isn’t available to be re-opened.”

A third round of spraying is scheduled next month.

The insecticide selectively attacks moth and butterfly larvae. Ebata says it is safe.

“This product has been used in Canada and actually world-wide for about 30 years. There has been no significant human health effect reported.”