A proposed pesticide ban in Montgomery County (Md.) continues to make headlines as proponents and oppositionists of the bill speak out, the Washington Post reports.
The proposed ban, spearheaded by Council President George Leventhal, prohibits the use of “nonessential” pesticides on turf, with the exceptions of use on agriculture land, gardens and golf courses.
Among local landscape professionals opining on the ban is John Austin, VP of Green Gardens in Clarksburg, Md.
“Please reexamine the public you are serving and ask them if they think they need you to micro manage their lives for them,” he wrote in a letter to council member Sidney Katz. “I think you will hear a resounding…NO.”
Others who are backing bill, such as Julie Taddeo, who is part of activist group Safe Grow Montgomery, said: “Lawn chemicals don’t stay where they are put. These pesticides drift and we breathe them into our lungs on our way to work or school.”
Final action on the ban is not expected before June.
For more on this story, visit the Washington Post.
