7/15/2014 ENVIRONMENTAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE Minutes

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another major way lawn fertilizers pollute our waterways. And applying fertilizer to saturated soils, or before a heavy rain,just increases the chances that fertilizer will end up where it doesn't belong. The Nitrogen Control Bylaw (NCB) addresses those pollution sources by establishing "performance standards" and promoting proper fertilizing practices. The NCB also strongly encourages professionals and property owners to apply only as much nitrogen as needed for a healthy lawn. The typical homeowner or professional lawn program applies two to three times the amount of nitrogen most lawns need. That is not only wasteful and expensive, but over-fertilized lawns have more disease and pest problems and are more likely to pollute our ground and surface waters. The EOC has proposed to present the NCB to the Board of Selectmen at their next meeting. The NCB will then be submitted as a warrant at the October Town Meeting. So why support a Nitrogen Control Bylaw for lawn fertilizers? Helping to clean up our valuable waterways is certainly one good reason. But the NCB itself offers perhaps the best reason: "The Cape Cod Commission has estimated that reducing nitrogen from outdoor lawn applications to coastal estuaries and embayments by fifty percent (50%) could save the taxpayers of Mashpee $40 million dollars in sewering and other wastewater treatment expenses." That is about 1,000 fewer homes in Mashpee that might need to be sewered in order to meet our obligations under the Clean Water Act. Who can argue with that? Finally, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is doing its part to reduce excess nitrogen and, particularly, excess phosphorus—a nutrient that is a pond-killer when improperly applied. Authorized by legislation passed in 2012, the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR), with the help of UMass Extension experts and others, has developed regulations for the application of phosphorus in fertilizers and multiple nutrients in agriculture. They will apply to both homeowners and professionals who apply fertilizer to lawns. The NCB developed by the EOC takes into account these state-wide regulations that manage the other potential nutrient pollutant in lawn fertilizers: phosphorus and phosphates. So, taken together, Mashpee has indeed made some important progress in protecting our bays, ponds, inlets and rivers in the last month. The Mashpee Environmental Coalition encourages all residents to support these measures. Not only will this enhance our lives, but it will protect our natural legacy for our children and grandchildren. Michael Talbot is president of the Mashpee Environmental Coalition and serves on the Environmental Oversight Committee. He is a Massachusetts Certified Horticulturist and landscape designer and a Certified Arborist. He pioneered organic and ecological land care and sustainable landscape design in the 1980's and continues to promote these practices today. He has lectured on these subjects to the Professional Lawn Care Association ofAmerica, the Professional Landcare Network and regional and state professional organizations from Virginia to Maine. He has authored lawn care standards and many articles, and he consults and lectures to lake and pond associations, colleges, institutions, homeowners, municipalities,garden clubs and environmental organizations throughout the Northeastern United States and the Middle Atlantic States.