crop sprayer
April 16 is the beginning of a pesticide-bacteria spraying program in western Washington, authorized by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. The stated purpose is to kill Asian and European gypsy moths.

Here is a map of the areas being sprayed.

spraying map
© Washington State Department of Agriculture
Approved by authorities and opposed by many people, they decided to spray a bacteria with pesticide properties called Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), the bacteria from which a gene comes that is used in GM crops to kill insects.

According to KOMO:
An area in Vancouver will also be sprayed Saturday, then the states moves onto Kent, Lacey, Gig Harbor, Nisqually and Seattle's Capitol Hill. This year the WSDA will use a red and white fixed wing plane to drop the pesticide 250 feet above ground level.

Asian and European gypsy Moths have been detected this year in Washington. The invasive insects have ferocious appetites for maple and oak and foliage from trees and plants. The Washington State Department of Agriculture says the damage caused by the moths would have serious economic and environmental implications.
Does anybody have a problem with this? Given the shady history of the US government testing harmful bacteria on civilians, such as San Francisco or New York City in 1966 Navy Operation Sea Spray, citizens would be wise to test the state and somehow observe for themselves what is happening here.

Sure it could be relatively innocuous, but it's necessary for the people to be a check and balance to the state: to this bureaucracy of the Department of Agriculture (known for cracking down on seed banks and supporting agrichemical giants).

Maybe someone could run an independent chemical test on this bacterial spray, or put it under a microscope. Any mechanism of holding the state accountable while they encroach further and further upon our lives would be worthy of trying at this point.