Pet Fiesta Held in Toxic Environment

The annual Reston Town Center Pet Fiesta was held this past Saturday on the main street of Reston Town Center. A nice event in a toxic environment.

Unbeknownst to most of the participants-- just two days prior to this event, all of the mulch beds and the grassy areas in and around the event received their usual heavy dosing of chemicals by the landscape contractors. No warning flags posted.

The picture of this mulch bed shows tiny round chemical pellets heavily sprinkled on all of the mulch beds. These pellets are on the sidewalks and the streets collaterally and get tracked home onto carpets and flooring - exposing kids and pets, and adults to the toxic effects even if they didn't attend the event. While a single exposure to these chemicals may not result in premature cancer deaths for a pet, or childhood asthma, the continual exposure -- starting at a young age -- is the real danger.

How child and pet friendly is Reston Town Center? Not so much. There is heavy use of chemicals on a regular basis throughout the entire Town Center to maintain weed free mulch beds. This includes chemical treatment of the lawn area of the park where pets and barefoot children regularly recreate. Few warning flags are posted - and when there are flags, they indicate that once a treatment is dry, its safe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Further contributing to the toxicity are the thousands of cigarette butts discarded by smokers walking in Reston Town Center each week - the toxic chemicals captured in the filters of these butts leaches into the ground around each filter. Reston Town Center is one of Fairfax County's biggest public ashtrays.

What can be done? Contact the County Supervisors to discuss changes. Use the recent initiatives of Montgomery County as an example. Approach Boston Properties and various landscape management companies with Town Center contracts - Boston Properties is not the sole owner. Insist that non-chemical treatments be used instead, such as composted materials. The Home Owner Associations located in the West Market area should also be put on notice - their landscape contractors are also spreading herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers to "beautify" these developments. No flagging. I personally witnessed the spreading of herbicides by landscape contractors all around the walking path -- including in the wooded areas -- which is part of the Madison Park Condo Association land.

The various property owners of Reston Town Center should be contacted to discuss implementing a "no walking & smoking" policy. Perhaps model new guidelines using Disney's Epcot Park. Several areas throughout Epcot are designated smoking areas - there are proper cigarette and cigar disposal receptacles...no smoking is permitted in non-designated areas. So there are no cigarette butts and no second hand smoke exposure.

What else? Drivers hurrying to enter parking garages during the morning rush, or leaving the garages after work or dining, seldom yield to pedestrian in crosswalks. It makes walking in the Town Center - especially at night - an obstacle course for adult and child pedestrians, baby strollers and dog walkers. Even when the police are around, there is no enforcement activity.

Amy Becker, RN
Oncology/Hospice Nursing