Working Waterfront Story

From: Subject: Working Waterfront Story Date: Wed, 1 Nov 2006 10:32:43 -0500 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="----=_NextPart_000_0000_01C6FDA1.10C07C50"; type="text/html" X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1807 This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_0000_01C6FDA1.10C07C50 Content-Type: text/html; charset="Windows-1252" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Location: http://www.workingwaterfront.com/article.asp?storyID=20061132 Working Waterfront Story

=20 Wednesday, November 01, 2006

=20 =

COMMUNITIES
Despite = questions,=20 pesticide use persists in coastal towns
by=20 CRAIG IDLEBROOK

photo: Frances = Idlebrook

During a city autumn celebration at Ellsworth=92s waterfront = park, a=20 witness saw an event coordinator spraying a can of Raid along the = park=92s=20 grass, minutes before the children=92s events were to open.=20

On that same day, a man and his two dogs took a break from the=20 festivities by lounging on a hill next to City Hall, unaware of a = sign=20 warning of chemical lawn application.=20

When told about the application, the man sat up, looked down at = his=20 clothes, and said, =93Too late now.=94=20

Twice a year, the bustling village green in Bar Harbor grows = eerily=20 silent; the town=92s playing fields are vacant then, as well. The = reason:=20 another tag warning of chemicals on the lawn, a few blocks from = the ocean.=20

Many cities and towns along the coast use chemical pesticides = and=20 fertilizers to treat public parks, playing fields and hospital = lawns.=20 While pesticide use in agriculture has dropped over the last 20 = years,=20 such use has spiked upward in lawn care. Approximately 800,000 = pounds of=20 lawn-care pesticides were brought into Maine in 1995, according to = the=20 Maine Board of Pesticide Control. In 2004, that figure rose to 3 = million.=20

Gary Fish, environmental coordinator for the Pesticide Control = Board,=20 said his agency is concerned about increased pesticide use, = especially=20 near people with damaged immune systems.=20

=93If anyone shouldn=92t be doing it, it should be = hospitals,=94 Fish said.=20

Exposure to pesticides has been linked to a host of health = problems=20 including cancer, asthma, developmental disabilities, reproductive = dysfunction and behavioral impairment. Short-term ailments include = vomiting, diarrhea, rashes and sore throat.=20

Runoff lawn-care fertilizer also has been linked to ocean and=20 freshwater algae blooms that result in massive aquatic species = die-offs.=20 The Pesticides Control Board first began promoting its = =93Yardscaping=94=20 organic lawn-care program after finding high levels of phosphorus = and=20 nitrogen, two of the three most commonly used lawn-care = fertilizers, in=20 Portland=92s Casco Bay.=20

=93Originally, we were promoting it as =91Bayscaping,=92 =94 = Fish said.=20

Many lawn-care products hit the market long before their = long-term=20 health and environmental effects can be studied, said Fish. = Recently,=20 several pesticides released in the early 1990s have now been = discovered to=20 contain carcinogens.=20

=93We=92re not sure what will happen now, because they=92ve = become the most=20 popular insecticides,=94 Fish said.=20

Ironically, Fish said, many of these toxic lawn pesticide = applications=20 aren=92t necessary.=20

=93A lot of time people are treating lawns whether they need it = or not,=94=20 Fish said. =93[They=92re] on the treadmill.=94=20

Lawn-care company spokesmen claim that their products pose = little=20 danger to public safety if used properly. Unfortunately, said = Fish, labels=20 on lawn-care products are often hard for the average person to = read.=20

=93We=92ve been working with the federal EPA for years to get = them to=20 simplify the labels,=94 said Fish.=20

Even individuals certified to use pesticides by the state have = trouble=20 understanding pesticide labels. Charlie Pierpont is the integrated = pest=20 management coordinator for the Ellsworth school system. Recently, = Maine=20 passed a law banning the use of pesticides on public school = grounds. In a=20 telephone interview, Pierpont spoke with pride about the = innovative ways=20 he=92s kept pests at bay without using chemicals.=20

But when reading off the lawn-care products used on the school = grounds,=20 he admitted he didn=92t know what most of the labels meant.=20

=93It=92s got a lot of numbers, but it don=92t mean nothing to = me,=94 he said=20 of one product.=20

Although he didn=92t realize it at the time, one of the = fertilizers he=20 read off, Lebanon 19-0-6 with .3 Weed Control, had a built-in = herbicide,=20 making it technically illegal to use on school grounds without = prior=20 notification to parents.=20

In recent years, some towns have changed their ordinances to = limit=20 pesticide and fertilizer use on public and private lawns, said = Fish.=20 Change has come about largely because of citizen involvement.=20

Upon joining Brunswick=92s conservation board, Laura Moon = learned that=20 the city=92s aquifer lay directly under its athletic fields. While = city=20 ordinances banned pesticide applications by private landowners in = the=20 aquifer zone, Moon said the city routinely treated the playing = fields with=20 pesticides.=20

=93And the soil is pretty sandy,=94 she said. =93Four feet down = and you can=20 hit water.=94=20

After city officials refused to stop treating the fields, Moon = and=20 others collected more than 700 signatures asking for the practice = to be=20 stopped, even if alternatives were initially more expensive.=20

Moon and her group went further than just pointing fingers, = though.=20

=93We had to find a solution,=94 she said.=20

The group brought in officials from Marblehead, Massachusetts, = a town=20 with ordinances that call for exclusive organic lawn care. = Marblehead=20 officials gave lectures on organic lawn care practices that can = eliminate=20 the need for pesticides, such as regularly testing the soil for pH = balance=20 and aerating the soil for weed control.=20

City officials eventually acquiesced and currently Brunswick is = one of=20 the only Maine towns with its own composting equipment. The = city=92s playing=20 fields are now organically-treated.=20

=93They are in really nice shape, and one of them is just = gorgeous,=94 said=20 Moon.=20

Moon and others have also put a measure on the local election = ballot=20 calling for a ban of sewage sludge in lawn care.=20

Fish said similar groups are either forming or working with = town=20 officials in several towns along the coast, including Mount = Desert,=20 Lewiston, and Auburn. The city of Portland recently gave the = Pesticides=20 Control Board a 2.5-acre parcel of land to demonstrate organic = integrated=20 lawn care practices. The board must still raise the funds to begin = work on=20 the parcel.=20

In some cities, the organic lawn care revolution is taking = place within=20 sight of City Hall. For the past 14 years, Ellsworth Public = Library=20 custodian Edmund Murray has chosen not to use chemicals to treat = library=20 lawns. The library is just across the street from the = chemically-treated=20 lawn at City Hall.=20

=93Our grass is green, theirs is too,=94 Murray said.=20

There is a little more crabgrass on the library lawn, but = it=92s always=20 green and healthy. For lawn care, Murray said all he does is apply = lime=20 once a year and mow regularly.=20

He said library patrons overwhelmingly are in favor of organic = lawn=20 care.=20

=93It=92s okay with me,=94 Murray said. =93We don=92t have to = pay for pesticides=20 and everybody likes us for not using them.=94=20

-- November 2006

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Jun 2006
by STEVE=20 CARTWRIGHT

Sprawl and Future
"Listening sessions" = draw out new=20 questions, approaches
Jun = 2006
by BOB MOORE

Wal-Mart & Maine Lobsters: a big player's = policies=20 affect what happens here
Jun=20 2006
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Dissenting Vote
Jun=20 2006
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Two Cities, One Very Big Box
Coastal towns = take on=20 Wal-Mart
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Long Island creates an entity to manage = former Navy=20 land
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Culvert project leads to floods, unhappiness = on=20 Vinalhaven
Jul 2005
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Shellfish committee, land trust cooperate in = clam=20 restoration project
Jul = 2005
by MARNIE REED = CROWELL

Berries Out to Sea
Nov=20 2004
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The Barberry Coast
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=A92001-2006 Island Institute. All = rights reserved.=20