Fertilizer Ordinances and Nonpoint Source Pollution Paradox

The Pinellas County fertilizer ordinance set to take effect in 2011 is intended to reduce “nonpoint source pollution”. “Nonpoint source pollution” is a clever word construct that begins with nonsense and ends with “pollution” giving the term a very negative connotation. By definition, nonpoint source pollution is pollution that has no specific point of entry into the environment.

For example, Nitrogen is considered to be an element that pollutes but the source cannot be pin pointed on a map – nonpoint source pollution. Why so difficult to pinpoint? Because, Nitrogen is a major component of our environment, a naturally occurring element of the air we breathe, part of everything organic, falls from the sky in rain water and is produced by electrical lines that crisscross the county. Nonpoint source pollution is the environment polluting the environment.

Did you get that? What used to be the “nitrogen cycle” now is nonpoint source pollution. Gone are the nitrogen and water cycles and in comes fanatical environmentalism where we are protecting the environment from the environment. Nutty I know but it gets worse.

Lawns are Friends, not Polluters

Thriving lawns and landscapes are the greatest filter plants for the urban environment. Yet lawns and landscapes are not self sustaining and require small amounts of supplemental plant nutrients such as Nitrogen to thrive. My service is to properly manage lawns and landscapes so they thrive and therefore process and filter Nitrogen from environmental sources into more environmentally friendly forms (reads “helps the nitrogen cycle”).

Not all Agree with Pinellas County Commissioners

According to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection:

“University studies throughout the country, including Florida, have shown that properly managed turfgrass and landscapes do not significantly contribute to nonpoint source pollution.”*

Yet in light of the university studies and the FDEP own recommendations, Pinellas County Commissioners and local municipalities deemed fertilization of lawns and landscapes as nonpoint source pollution and in need of governing. They passed restrictive laws on fertilization of lawns that will weaken and reduce the current turfgrass community of Pinellas County. Weakening and reducing turfgrass by restrictive fertilizer ordinances will inadvertently add to the nonpoint source pollution by increasing transport of sediment, nutrients and pesticides in surface and ground water.

Effects of Pinellas County Fertilizer Ordinances

Three major restrictions are packaged in the ordinances.

1. Blackout of Nitrogen applications June1 until September 30: The law of limiting factors states that a biological entity will only reach its highest potential of its most limiting factor. In other words limit Nitrogen and limit the plant abilities to grow - to thrive, to choke out weeds, to survive drought and to resist pests and diseases – and you lose your lawn not in year one or the second year but over time a gradual decline and eventual death.

2. 10 foot buffer zone around water: I cannot apply ANYTHING in the area 10 feet wide starting at the edge of the water. This will become a wasteland - a breeding ground for weeds and insects - between the water and the 10 foot demarcation.

3. No application of anything anywhere when there is a Thunderstorm Warning or Watch: If there is a Thunderstorm warning or watch in the Tampa Bay Area as issued by the National Weather Service, I am not allowed to service your yard. This will severely restrict the days I can work and will likely end lawn spraying as we know it today.

Conclusion

The ordinances are a done deal. The only hope is that through the “educational process of experiential learning” the County will see the error of the ordinances and pass pro-turfgrass ordinances. That will take time. Meanwhile, I am actively working on “work-arounds” to the ordinances in hopes of at least providing a superior product under restrictive ordinances. I hope to have some answers by late summer.

*”Florida Friendly Best Management Practices for Protection of Water Resources by the Green Industry” published December 2008 by Florida Department of Environmental Protection and University of Florida

Related Articles:LAWN SPRAYING AND THE ENVIRONMENT ; ST PETE'S FERTILIZER ORDINANCE ; ABOUT THE CHEMICALS I USE