Taxpayer money spent on unnecessary pesticides at Coginchaug High School

I discovered this week that some of the tax money we pay to District 13 for our children’s schooling is being spent on chemical lawn care and toxic pesticides that were applied to school property this week. A broadleaf weed killer was applied which contains a chemical called 2-4D. 2-4D is used by lawn care companies and homeowners to kill broadleaf weeds such as clover and dandelions in lawns. This chemical is proven to be highly toxic. Cancer, asthma, autism, Parkinson’s Disease, ADHD, and birth defects have all been linked to exposure to common lawn care chemicals, such as 2-4D. A study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute finds home and garden pesticide use can increase the risk of childhood leukemia by almost seven times. This definitely poses a risk to our children.

Do you know want to know where this chemical was applied? At Coginchaug Regional High School and Board of Education Central Office buildings. Tru-Green is a lawn care company, formerly known as ChemLawn,  which was hired by District 13 to spray the grass.

On Tuesday, August 23, 2011, the Tru-Green truck pulled up, a man got out and started spraying all the lawns close to the building with toxic pesticides. The use of these types of chemicals on properties is very dangerous. When I saw the little yellow signs that read "PESTICIDE APPLICATION," I was livid. I could smell the chemicals and my stomach felt sick thinking of all the teenagers who very soon would be walking across this grass, not knowing what they are walking through, stirring up, breathing in and tracking home. A chemical used to KILL should not be applied to places our children hang out, especially for the reason it was applied. I photographed many of the areas where the little yellow signs were, documenting the sprayed areas. I walked around the building, careful not to step on ANY lawn, smelling that familiar sickening chemical scent and my jaw dropped when I saw this last sign directly in front of the Board of Education. I realized who would have hired this company to do this. The District, which oversees our children’s future, is exposing them to toxic chemicals. And spending our tax money to do it!

A little background on me. I am a fairly new CT resident, having moved here in 2006. I also hired Tru-Green to “fix” our weedy lawn for two seasons. They underbid every other company I called so I went with them. They said all the right things, how it was “safe” for my young children to walk on the grass once it was dry. I did not know any better as many homes in the neighborhood used this company, or another company like them.

In 2008, I started to discover what chemicals they were applying to my property and how they work. I went through the UConn Master Gardening Program and learned how our soil is alive with beneficial microorganisms and how there is a whole web of life in our soil, feeding the plants (including grass) naturally.  I learned how organic lawn and garden fertilizers feed the soil organisms slowly, stay put and release nutrients to the grass plants as needed. Synthetic chemical fertilizers bypass the soil, feeding the grass directly, leaving a lifeless soil and then the excess runs off into streams, ponds, lakes, and eventually, the oceans.  Synthetic chemical fertilizers are like a drug to plants -- they give plants an immediate boost, the excess washes away and the plants stress out and therefore need MORE chemicals. It’s an endless cycle of toxic sprays and synthetic pellets being applied to the lawn. I stopped using Tru-Green. I no longer believed that what they were using on my property was “safe” like they claimed. “Just stay off until it is dry” is NOT true. The chemicals stay there much longer and get on our shoes. They migrate from our shoes into our carpets where our babies play and put toys with 2-4D into their mouths. The chemical 2-4D has been tested to be found in carpeting for a full year after application!

I went back to college to study horticulture and landscape design and got a job at an organic garden center. My lawn has now been organic for three years and is safe and quite pretty. I have studied lawn care in school, learned organic gardening and lawn care at my job and have become passionate about spreading the word that these everyday, easily available lawn care products are just down right dangerous! They are especially dangerous to small living things like children and pets.

I do not want my tax money spent on something that can directly harm our children! I want to feel secure knowing the BOE is looking out for my kids! This is ridiculous!

The Connecticut legislature passed a law (P.A. 09-56) banning lawn care pesticide applications on the grounds of day care centers, elementary and middle schools (grade 8 and lower) as a result of residents’ concerns about children’s health and the environment. This ban went into effect for day care centers on October 1, 2009 and for K-8 schools on July 1, 2010. Some Connecticut municipalities have gone beyond the requirements of the law and have stopped using pesticides to manage turfgrass on all their municipal properties.

Read the details of this law at http://www.ct.gov/dep/lib/dep/p2/government/turf_mgt_without_pesticides_final_%282%29.pdf 

Technically, what the district applied to the lawns on Tuesday, August 23, 2011 is not illegal. What it IS however, is COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY AND IRRESPONSIBLE. These chemicals were used to control the COSMETIC look of the lawn. I feel the health and safety of my children and neighbors is more important than the “look” of the lawn. Go and see it for yourself. It is green. It WAS safe--according to the district employee I spoke with, who claimed they have not used these chemicals in years at the school. It looks kind of pretty actually, weeds and all. Now it is still green with some dead weeds and is not safe for our children to walk across. 

New York State passed a similar law last year but took it one step further. They protect their children through grade 12. We need to do this here in Connecticut! Several other states are realizing the dangers of these readily available chemical products and are passing tougher laws to restrict their use or ban them outright. Most of Canada’s provinces have passed laws banning not only schools and parks from using these products, but homeowners as well. The Home Depot in Canada does not sell the Scott’s chemical lawn care “step” programs anymore based on a law they passed to protect citizens from unknown dangers of lawn pesticides used for cosmetic reasons.

I believe we should not allow the district to spend our tax money so frivolously. Right now, we are cutting bus stops to save money (putting many children in dangerous situations) and spending it on this poison. Something is not right here. Do you agree?

Click here to read what the CT towns of Branford, Essex and Plainfield are doing to protect their citizens. http://www.organiclandcare.net/green-room/blog/lawn-pesticide-regulations-connecticut 

Here are some sources for the facts in my report on 2-4D.

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/PesticideandPlayingFieldsltrhead.pdf

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/Pesticide.children.dontmix.pdf

http://www.beyondpesticides.org/lawn/factsheets/facts&figures.htm

And this is one of my favorite websites of a local community coming together with the children to educate others about toxic lawn chemicals. The kid tab page is especially cute: http://www.citizensforagreencamden.org/

My intention is to educate people who do not realize the dangers they are subjecting their families and pets to when they apply these products that are so easy to buy and apply. I have been thinking of how to do this for about two years and this was the jump start I needed. Seeing our education tax money being used to spray chemicals at our high school was my wake up call. Seeing these signs here at the school made me sick. I am relieved to get started on this mission and hope you will join me. -Diane