Pinellas County Fertilizer Regulations Require Training to Reduce a Insignificant Amount of Pollution

Pinellas County has put in place the most strict fertilizer restrictions in Florida to clean our Florida waterways. Part of the restrictions require that all contractors who apply fertilizer to lawns and ornamentals to be trained and certified in the proper use of fertilizer.

I am now trained and certified in Green Industry best management practices and I can “proudly” display my sticker on the service truck.

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But wait, there’s more…

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That all sounds good until you realize that recent studies show that the pollution by lawn and shrub fertilization is so minimal it is considered “insignificant”. In addition there are known unintended consequences of fertilizer restrictions that will increase pollution. But the Pinellas County government has ignored the research and the warnings of unintended consequences and chooses to “strain at gnats and swallow a camel”. The gnat is fertilizers and the “camel” is the leaking sewer system that moves tons of nutrient rich waste directly into Florida waterways.

Then they take the very professionals that depend upon scientific research to determine the very best in materials and practices to maintain lawns and “retrain” them to ignore research. Now proximity events without causal association – like fertilizing lawns and polluted lakes – are sufficient for lawn care management.

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