Clean Water Action

Pesticide Free Zones

Dennis Township, January 2008

Jane Nogaki, left, of the New Jersey Environmental Federation stands with members of the Dennis Township Environmental Commission Jan. 15 as the township adopts a Pesticide Free Zone policy. Commission members include: Eileen Turner, Sue Slotterback, Judy Gollatz, Charles Engel, Ed Chelius and Kim Berson. Photo by Joe Hart

Thanks to the efforts of the township Environmental Commission, long-time resident activist Ruth Fischer and the New Jersey Environmental Federation, Dennis Township Committee adopted a restrictive pest management program at its Jan. 15 meeting.

The program calls for the use of natural organic methods or the least toxic methods available for treating public property, such as community parks, recreation areas, school grounds and municipal grounds.

Environmental Federation representative Jane Nogaki told the Herald that Dennis Township was following the lead set by the county, Ocean City and a dozen other communities throughout the state, which adopted similar measures in recent years.

"Ruth Fischer got the ball rolling in Dennis Township last year when she noticed that a lawn care company that uses chemicals had posted a sign on the municipal building's lawn warning of pesticides," Nogaki said. "She brought it up to officials and the (Environmental) Commission and made it an issue."

In the resolution, which was drafted by the Environmental Commission, committee acknowledged the hazardous affects associated with chemical pesticides to humans - especially infants, children, pregnant women and the elderly - as well as pets, wildlife, plants and their water supply.

A study of Cohansey acquifer, which supplies much of the township's water, showed that 40 percent of the tested wells had some pesticide residues, Nogaki said.

Nogaki and Judy Gollatz-Morgan, chair of the Environmental Commission, thanked officials for adopting the pest management program and presented them with their first "Pesticide Free Zone" ladybug sign that Mayor John Murphy promised to post at township hall.

"We are asking township residents to make their own private property pesticide free as well," Gollatz said.

In addition to the new policy, the mayor also drafted a letter to the state Department of Transportation (DOT) requesting that pesticides not be used on state property within the township.