To the County Commissioners of Pinellas County,

Rick, The Lawn Spraying GuyI am an agronomist – a soil and plant scientist dedicating my life to understanding the life science of the relationship between soil and plants. I have a BS in Agronomy Va Tech ’79 and I am a certified pest control operator for the state of Florida and in the past held state certifications as irrigation contractor, landscape contractor and Arborist. I have owned and operator a lawn spraying company in Pinellas County for over 8 years. I taught environmental horticulture at the college level. I have over 30 years of experience in cultivating urban environments – golf courses, resorts, athletic fields, cemeteries and single family homes. I have a deep understanding of urban soil and plants – few things about the urban landscape are a mystery to me.

However, the biggest mystery to me is how a group of people can believe that heavily regulating the lawn spraying industry will reduce the nitrogen load in our environment. The science and evidence suggest such an ordinance will NOT reduce nitrogen. The ordinances will increase joblessness, ambient temperatures, CO2, dust and pollen and reduce the health and welfare of our population.

The nitrogen load in Pinellas County is not supported nor increased by lawn spraying. It is increased and maintained in our county by human activity. Tons and tons of organic matter, which is  5% N, flow into this county every day. The organic matter is in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables and other foods (for every type of animal), non-edible organics such as boxes, cloth and wood products as well as fuels and oils. Then there are the organics produced by our urban landscapes – plants, leaves, root and microbes. Also there are the inorganic sources of Nitrogen such as power lines and electrical storms. You can’t stop that!

All of that nitrogen “leaks” into the soil and eventually into our surrounding waters. Comparatively, lawn spraying is an insignificant source of nitrogen. It is what a BB is to an 18 ton truck load of raw sewage. Focusing on lawn spraying is to strain at the BB and swallow the sewage.

As to the urban landscape it is does not have an open pipeline transporting Nitrogen directly to our surrounding waters but cultivated soil is the filtration plant cleaning our soil water. A lot of the nitrogen applied to cultivated areas simply volatilizes into the atmosphere – which is 78% Nitrogen. The Nitrogen that reaches the soil is processed and reprocessed by everything from bacteria to earthworms – it is an organic enzymatic digestion of Nitrogen by soil flora and fauna and the plants thrive because of healthy soil. The by-product of the enzymatic digestion is microscopic fecal matter that can travel in soil water to surrounding bodies of water where it is further processed and filtered.

Quite the opposite is true of bare lifeless soils found in uncultivated areas. The unprocessed unfiltered Nitrogen (organic matter) simply flows downhill to the surrounding bodies of water.

Nothing could be more natural and helpful than a healthy soil and plant complex filtering and processing organic matter. It has been known for centuries that healthy soils bring better health to the inhabitants. A healthy landscape is analogous to having a filtration plant surrounding every home in Pinellas County. Reduction of the plant community from Pinellas County would greatly reduce the filtering capabilities of our soil and increase the un-processed raw organic matter flowing into our water bodies. Lawn spraying is not the problem – it is the solution!

As a professional and a student of soil health and its relationship to the environment, I have been way ahead of the curve to improve my services to achieve soil health – often referred to as “Best Management Practices” (BMP). However the ordinances that are proposed will likely put my services beyond the means of most homeowners and reducing the already minimal amount of cultivated landscapes. The best scenario is to work with and for the lawn spraying companies to expand and improve their service. That will improve soil health and plant communities which will improve the health and welfare of the people of Pinellas County.

Sincerely,

Rick Orr, agronomist