9/12/2013 ENVIRONMENTAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Minutes

Home Browse Search

Letter in Support of Ordinance #13-09: Fertilizer DCPC Michael Talbot,TalbotEcoLandCare.com DCPC—not because they like regulations or are anti-business. In fact I would characterize the EOC and the Mashpee Board of Selectmen as relatively conservative and pro-business. On the other hand, after years of work with the lawn care industry, I firmly believe we can do this kind of regulation in a way that can be good for the conscientious lawn care companies, some of whom are represented at the hearing on September 11, 2013. The reason these and other organizations in Mashpee support the DCPC is the same reason why Nitrogen Fertilizer Bylaws were passed by large margins in Town Meetings in Falmouth and Orleans. The citizens and taxpayers of Cape Cod are concerned and even frightened at the prospect of having to pay billions of dollars in sewer and wastewater infrastructure costs to do what must be done by law: end the excess loading of nitrogen in our bays and estuaries. In most of our estuaries excess nitrogen will continue to degrade water quality to where property values may go down and tourism and our overall economy declines significantly. Just a few years ago, for example, a major algal bloom in Waquoit Bay—the first ever recorded in what was once a rich, shellfishing area—gave a preview of what is to come if we don't reduce our nitrogen load. Regular events like that would certainly be bad for the landscape businesses testifying at the hearing, since we rely to a large degree on the desirable, high end properties made valuable by clean drinking water and surface water resources on Cape Cod. You will get claims from opponents of this Ordinance that"the numbers are not right", so let's not regulate nitrogen loading from lawn fertilizers. And you are going to hear that we should pay attention to what is being said and done in other estuaries and watersheds. Some opponents will site an EPA study done for the Chesapeake Bay watershed,titled "Recommendations of the Expert Panel to Define Removal Rates for Urban Nutrient Management". I have studied that report, and I have also reviewed the study of the Chesapeake Bay Program that demonstrates that lawn fertilizers account for 10%of their total nitrogen load—the same as our numbers here—despite the fact that they have an enormous problem with agricultural runoff and farm fertilizers that we don't have here on Cape Cod. I also have a report from the Environment Maryland Research & Policy Center, which I have attached, entitled, "Urban Fertilizers&the Chesapeake Bay:An Opportunity for Major Pollution Reduction"that makes a strong case for strengthening Maryland's existing nitrogen fertilizer regulations. Maryland adopted state-wide nitrogen fertilizer regulations to reduce what they have clearly shown to be the major impact of lawn fertilizers on the health of Chesapeake Bay. Virginia, Delaware and New York are other states in the Chesapeake Watershed that have regulations and/or other programs to reduce the impact of lawn fertilizers on the health of bays and ponds. New Jersey, in a law regulating lawn fertilizers signed recently by Governor Chris Christie—who is not considered an environmentalist—requires that all professionals who apply fertilizers must now be certified after undergoing training on the legal, proper ways to apply fertilizers. Such a regulation here would not only help reduce pollution from lawn fertilizers,but could give an advantage to lawn companies that do the right thing. With such a program we could and should encourage homeowners to only hire companies that are certified to apply fertilizer—and encourage homeowners to either do it right themselves or let the professionals who know how do it for them. In any regulations we have to include homeowners, as they still apply the lion's share of lawn fertilizers and often have little knowledge of proper turf management. September 11, 2013 Page 2