August 14, 2001
Lack of Concern
Last week on the way to work, I witnessed a landscape contractor, during
their normal cleanup at a local restaurant. They were cutting the grass,
trimming trees and shrubs and spraying for weeds. As I was stopped a red light,
the worker who was applying some herbicide (weed killer) stepped off of the
property and onto the street to spray some weeds that were growing out of the
city's sewer drain. Being a former licensed pesticide applicator in 2 states, I
knew right away that this was a major no-no. When I got to work I immediately
called the DEP for the Boston area to report this misapplication so that they
could take the proper measures. I was shuttled to a number of different offices
and phones until I was instructed to leave a voice mail for someone representing
the DEP. A week passes. No call back. I call today and I actually get a live
person, he took my information and wrote it down, but barely seemed concerned
and actually led me to believe that he was not going to follow up on this. I was
really disappointed that there was such a lack of concern for this instance.
Yes, it might have been a small error and only a small amount of herbicides was
applied but it should be handled more swiftly and effectively. I strongly
believe that chemical control of nuisance pests (weeds, insects, rodents, etc.)
is appropriate and necessary, but only when used responsibly and with the proper
control. To make myself feel better, I called the restaurant and spoke to the
manager. He was very receptive and said that he was going to speak to the owner
of the landscaping company.