Dan's Papers - March 21, 2008 - The Fertilizer Ban

The new Suffolk County fertilizer law signed by County Executive Steve Levy in December is very good news for East End bays and waterways. The law, which bans the application of fertilizer between November 1 and April 1, won't go into effect until next year, giving residents and purveyors of fertilizer some time to get up to speed and consider just why this bill is important.

The quality of the water in the area has been declining for far too long. Algae blooms, loss of the eelgrass beds (nurseries for shellfish), sewage issues and fish die-offs have all been well covered in the press. Recently, homeowners around Lake Agawam in Southampton were informed that they will receive the pamphlet "An Owners Guide," encouraging them to create buffer zones of native plants near the lake, rather than having lawns abutting its edges. Runoff from fertilizers containing high levels of phosphorus and nitrogen has been entering the lake, causing pollution.

The pamphlet is a good first step - few homeowners in either town are aware that they contribute to the water pollution problem, maybe because they don't see lawn care and gardening as a part of the issue. But with the new law, the County has set the record straight, saying, "Fertilizers are responsible for approximately 50% of the total nitrogen loads to groundwater in the Peconic Estuary." In other words, 50% of the pollution now degrading Peconic Bay is from fertilizers. (The other 50% is from sewage.)

The Suffolk County Department of Energy and the Environment (DoEE) will have oversight of both enforcement and education regarding the new restrictions. Although there is a $1,000 per day fine for violations, it's the public outreach and landscape industry regulation that gives the bill teeth.

A full force effort includes the development of a website, brochures distributed at stores and posting of the law within in ten feet of areas where fertilizers are sold. Contractors who apply fertilizers will have to be registered and required to take education seminars. The goal is to reduce up to 60 tons annually of nitrogen based fertilizers reaching the Bay. And if that much is flowing off of lawns into streams, marshes and bays and not being taken up by the plants it was meant for, then good horticultural horse sense indicates that there's way too much fertilizer being dumped on the ground without any soil tests to determine if it's actually needed.

The Suffolk County Department of Health will draw up guidelines for "best management practices." That means low maintenance lawns, improved mowing methods, and well-timed application of fertilizers at minimal rates. They'll also develop guidelines for fertilizer use that pose "the least harm to the environment."

So why do people over fertilize? Like pesticides, many homeowners believe that more is better and their plants will grow faster. But that's not how it works. Plants only need additional nutrition when they are actively growing. For lawns, that means light applications in June and July. It's not necessary to fertilize in April when stored energy makes plants lush and green in a short time.

Local garden center owners don't see the bill as a threat to sales, and some feel that it's the homeowners who really need to comply more than the landscape industry. "I'm pretty positive about it. It's a healthy move that will protect our ground water," said Charlie Marder, who just hosted a seminar on the advances in composting. He thinks it will increase business for landscape companies that can make a shift in their health care programs from "intravenous plant care to soil fertility." If the focus is on "increasing soil fertility and microbial life in the soil, then a bigger market will open up," he said. "It will make landscapers think, and the clients as well."

The majority of Suffolk County parklands, such as the golf course in Sag Harbor, are now pesticide free, and many may now become fertilizer free as well. The law does exempt some golf courses, as long as they use only slow release, low nitrogen fertilizer. Farmlands are not covered under the bill, yet the New York State Farm Bureau's publication Grassroots recently published an article on the rise in cost of fertilizers, urging more manure spreading and less fertilizing.

So what about that other 50% of the pollution - the sewage? The Peconic Baykeeper, Kevin McAllister, and representatives of the Group for the East End met with Congressman Tim Bishop in Washington over his proposed bill, the Sewage Right to Know Act. This is a separate law that, if passed, will govern the sewage treatment plants in Greenport, Riverhead, Sag Harbor, Calverton and Shelter Island in the event of sewage spills into the bays. Bishop's bill deserves support since it will work hand in glove with the bill Levy signed. Together, they'll have more impact than the social activism that has surrounded the issues.

Passage from Levy's Fertilizer Law:

"This Legislature hereby finds that over application and/or misuse of fertilizer products has led to the degradation in the local water quality, and has harmed groundwater, drinking water, and wetlands and surface waters within the County of Suffolk.

This Legislature further finds that excess nitrogen in drinking water can threaten human health, as fertilizer leachate has contaminated groundwater and groundwater is the sole source of drinking water on Long Island.

This Legislature also finds that nitrogen contamination trends in groundwater are worsening."