Borough Council Too Slow to Ban Pesticides

Chatham Borough residents should be concerned about our council's slowness to act on the use of harmful pesticides on recreational fields where our children play.

It is now widely accepted that synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fungicides present in commonly-used lawn fertilizers have harmful health impacts, particularly on children. The New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has issued a statement in support of the AAP's study, “Pesticide Exposure in Children,” that cites the growing evidence that chronic exposure to pesticides is strongly linked to pediatric cancer and adverse neuro-development. Children have greater exposure to pesticides than adults through playing, hand-to-mouth activities, and because their developing bodies and organ systems take in more pesticides than adults. See BeyondPesticides.org. Our neighbors in Chatham Township took these warnings to heart and switched to organic landscaper, Lincoln Landscaping, earlier this year.

Why hasn't Chatham Borough done the same? The main issue cited is cost. The Borough Council, through the Chatham Borough Environmental Commission, was presented a quote from Lincoln Landscaping, which was "considerably more" than our current TruGreen contract and outside the current budget. As an interim measure, Chatham Borough did a test run of organic fertilizer on the front lawn of Borough Hall and the library lawn this spring, with good results.

If cost is the issue, it does not explain why we continue to spray toxic pesticides on recreational fields. We could save money immediately and rid our fields of toxic pesticides by simply stopping the current spraying. If we were testing the effectiveness of organic fertilizer, these tests could have been run on the fields where our children play. How many quotes did we obtain and was there any attempt to negotiate? There are options that have not been explored. What's more, using natural systems for lawn care can save money in the long run because the grass is healthier and requires less water.

I have children who play on those fields, and I believe that fresh approaches to solving this issue are what our town needs, and fast.

I have had the pleasure of getting to know Jocelyn Mathiasen and Carolyn Dempsey who are running for Borough Council this November. They know this is an important health issue affecting our community and are motivated to address it. Jocelyn's career is in managing projects for local governments to streamline and modernize their processes, become more efficient, and reduce costs. Carolyn is a breast cancer survivor and advocate for cancer research. Together they have the know-how and the passion to effect change in our community, including this one. Let's vote Jocelyn and Carolyn on November 6 and get this done.

Irene Treloar

Elmwood Avenue

Chatham Borough