06
Oct
Maryland County Bans Cosmetic Lawn Pesticides on All Land in County, One Million People Affected
(Breaking News, October 6, 2015, Washington, DC) The largest county in the country to act to ban pesticides will forbid toxic pesticides on public and private land within its jurisdiction, based on legislation passed today by a 6-3 vote. The ban, an historic public health measure, will protect one million people in a county outside Washington DC, as it allows time for transition, training, and a public education program over the next several years.
Maryland is one of seven states that has not taken away (or preempted) local authority to restrict pesticides more stringently than the state. The Montgomery County Parks Department has fought against the bill, suggesting that fields cannot be managed with organic practices. Extensive testimony on alternatives has educated council members on the viability of organic practices.
There is movement across the country to adopt ordinances that stop pesticide use on public property and, where allowed, private property. Pesticides when used move off the target site through drift and runoff, exposing non-target sites and people.
The legislation passed today is a major victory for public health and environmental protection. While the chemical lawn care industry strenuously opposed the bill, in testimony before the Council an industry spokesman said he could implement organic programs for his customers.
For more information on organic lawn care, see Beyond Pesticides website.
YES!!!!!!!!! When will the others ever learn, ever listen?
October 6th, 2015 at 3:16 pmWhich county?
October 7th, 2015 at 11:51 amWe’re gaining momentum. People are slowly but surely starting to wise-up. Spread the word.
October 8th, 2015 at 2:23 pmHhhmmm perfect looking lawns vs. healthy people – good choice.
Organic practices WILL work, however, who thinks the parks department will intentionally make it NOT work to prove their point?
Dr. Dupont – Guessing since it mentioned the Montgomery County Parks Department, it would be that county.
October 10th, 2015 at 7:51 amSo sorry there is no way to forward this to my local city council and state legislators.
October 19th, 2015 at 11:16 amIt is just a matter of time. More and more cities and municipalities will soon realize that pesticides are dangerous, and our children and pets are at risk.
May 7th, 2016 at 4:26 pmLawns can definitely be organic and almost weed free!
Javi Gil, you’re joking right? Everybody already knows that pesticides are dangerous. At issue is the manufacturers and their profits vs. the public health, and the fact that the people that we pay to protect us and our health long ago sold their souls and submitted to the will of their corporate pimps. The new age version of the Tragedy of the Commons now has human health playing the role of the “Commons”. The amount of opposing force necessary to overcome the moneyed inertia of the petroleum-chemical industry will be staggering. Now that the generations of human guinea pigs that have suffered since WWII are manifesting the results of all of these exposures, we are presented with the daunting task of trying to prove that they are in fact responsible, which in the world that the have completely immersed in their swill, is virtually impossible. They have so contaminated everything that you can’t pin down any one element of their whole and prove to the required legal standard that they are to blame, unless the exposure is one of overwhelmingly extreme levels and well witnessed. The much more common constant low dose exposures that are effecting us all are so muddled by other contaminating factors (mostly of their making as well) that it affords them more than ample wiggle room for the lawyers that their billions in profits can buy, to escape being held accountable. The immediate need is to force legislators to enact laws that place the onus on the chemical companies to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that they are doing no harm, BEFORE their crap is approved. In other words, make certain that the law forces any erring to be to our benefit, rather than our detriment as it currently functions. This is how our gov'[t should be functioning, not assuming the position and dropping their pants every time that a corporate lobbyist appears at their door. Want to see how your elected representatives are going to vote? Just look to see who is paying them. They don’t even try to hide it anymore, they do it right in front of us, all in the blessed name of idiocy such as “growth” or “saving jobs” – which all leave anyway and head to jurisdictions where it’s even cheaper to buy the government and make their own laws. The FDA & EPA should NEVER allow any “science” produced by a manufacturer, or funded at arm’s length by them, to be submitted or considered in their approval and/or review processes, exactly the opposite of their bullshit system that has always done the exact opposite. Just as with “justice” in our courts, you can get all of the “supporting science” money can buy. The effort required to truly reverse this trend is literally the equivalent of a kayak attempting to turn a super tanker, but ya gotta start somewhere.
May 11th, 2016 at 8:25 am