Standing water adds to fears of Zika, West Nile in Blanchard

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BLANCHARD, LA (KSLA) - Fears about the breeding of potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes are at the heart of worries about standing water in one part of north Caddo Parish.

It involves the flushing of a water line just outside the town of Blanchard.

The fear: That it creates a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes just as concerns about Zika and West Nile viruses have intensified locally and nationally.

Home surveillance footage captured Wednesday morning shows a Blanchard water department employee flushing about 1,000 gallons of water for 10 minutes onto and around the perimeter of Jerry Pennington's home.

Walking along the edge of his property, he pointed and said, "Whenever they do it, all that water comes back here at sits for days."

Pennington said all that running water creates what he describes as marshy conditions. "All mosquitoes need is 24 to 48 hours and then they're hatched."

For him, the threat of mosquitoes is an emotional issue.

"You got the West Nile virus confirmed in Caddo Parish last week. You got the Zika going around. I don't want anything like that. I definitely don't want my 2-year-old with anything like that."

Blanchard must flush the line at that spot to ensure customers like Pennington, who live outside the town limits, have good water, Mayor Jim Galambos said. "And we have to do it monthly to keep the chlorine levels clean through his pipes because he's at a dead-end service."

The town is well aware of the drainage issue, the mayor said.

Galambos also said he's spoken with the water department. It's workers have been out to survey the situation and are working on a potential solution, the mayor said.

In fact, Pennington's home security system recorded the visit by the mayor and Blanchard's water manager the very morning after the latest water flush.

"We're going to open up his ditch. We're going to try to direct the water to a different location," Galambos said.

"But his ditch, he lives in a cul-de-sac, and the ditch just goes in a circle. So, after that, I told him I would call the parish to see if they could come out and look at his drainage."

As for mosquito spraying, the mayor said that too is under parish control.