Spokane7
53°
January 19, 2010 in City, Idaho
Is lawn fertilizer next for phosphorus ban?
OLYMPIA — Washington, which already has restrictions on laundry and dishwasher detergents, could ban phosphorus in lawn fertilizers.
A bill before the state Senate would require low- or no-phosphorus fertilizers for lawns, although not for golf courses or on farms.
It got a series of thumbs-up Tuesday from environmental groups and Spokane businesses that included Avista and Inland Empire Paper Co..
It was opposed, however, by agriculture groups and landscapers.
Phosphorus can stimulate algae growth in lakes and streams. The city and county of Spokane, as well as other large producers of waste water along the Spokane River such as Inland Empire Paper, are under orders to reduce phosphorus. Inland Empire Paper is a subsidiary of Cowles Co., which also owns The Spokesman-Review.
Some phosphorus in lawn fertilizers do not bind with the soil and run off lawns from watering or rain, the Senate Environment, Water and Energy Committee was told. Storm water runoff is typically not treated by sewage facilities that can remove phosphorus.
“This is critically important in places such as Spokane, which are trying to reach the lowest phosphorus levels in the country,” said Rick Eichstaedt, who heads the Center for Justice’s Spokane Riverkeeper program. It’s particularly important for residents along Long Lake, where noxious algae blooms every summer, he added.
Heather Hanson, who represents farm groups and landscapers, said phosphorus occurs naturally in the environment, and it’s impossible to separate it from some organic fertilizers. The bill requires expensive soil tests and ties enforcement actions to neighbor complaints, she said.
“Do you really want neighbors complaining about neighbors?” Hanson asked.
State Sen. Chris Marr, D-Spokane, a bill co-sponsor, noted farmers and landscapers are exempted and wondered about their opposition: “Is this just a general concern, or a love of phosphates?”
Washington banned phosphate laundry detergents in 1993, and began a similar ban on phosphate dishwashing detergents in 2008. The ban started in Spokane, Clark and Whatcom counties, and is scheduled to take effect in the rest of the state this year.
The change in dishwashing detergent has led to complaints from some consumers that the products without phosphorus don’t do as good of a job, and reports of people driving to Idaho or elsewhere outside the county to buy the old detergent.
Eight other states have some type of restriction on phosphorus in fertilizer.
Romney/Paul split weighing on county GOP 
karlthepagan on January 19 at 2:11 p.m.
“not for golf courses”
Now we know who to complain about when our dishes are spotty and have to be rinsed by hand.
Special laws for special people.
78goldwing on January 19 at 2:39 p.m.
Just keeps getting more & more ridiculous!
theisena on January 19 at 3:01 p.m.
Having to wash dishes by <gasp> hand? Not being able to pour noxious chemicals on our lawns—and by extension, into our waterways? What is our state coming to?
Its senses, I hope. Unless you are on the board of Dow Chemical, you fight these bills against your own better interests—assuming you’re interested in, you know, clean, safe drinking water.
lewis8457 on January 19 at 5:30 p.m.
I am kind of surprised it wasn’t part of the dish soap restrictions. I mean after all the dish soap drains into the sewer, which in turn goes to the sewage treatment plant. I find it odd that the treated sewage spill off still has enough phosphorus in it to make algae in the river.
Doesn’t that seem odd? The fertilizers are going to be drained off into the water supply with out any type of treatment. It is almost as if the problem is coming from the sewage plant.
The amount of fertilizers golf courses and farmers use is so huge compared to washing dishes it makes me wonder.
oneandtwo on January 19 at 6:07 p.m.
I’m putting a putting green in the front yard and tilling the back yard for wheat and bean sprouts.Then I can be one of the special exempt people also.
Too bad we dont subsidize the non-existant county compost project. That way we could avoid the high phospates by using the rich natural fertilizers for the yard.
It does seem kinda funny now that one looks at it. Banning dishwasher soap and not yard fertilizer. Maybe I should toss a cup of that stuff in the dishwasher and see how it works.
The low phosphate detergent would be ok if they had mandated concurenly the producation of washers that would use .Of course what came first the detergent or the dishwasher?
Albert on January 19 at 8:16 p.m.
Finally! somebody is getting the idea of what is going into the rivers via the ground water. If we could only do the same for the herbicides I could get off the inhalers and remove the respirator mask whenever my neighbors spray their yards. Oh joy for those of us with severe breathing challenges. 2 years ago a farmer illegally applied a “custom” mixture of weed killers to the 10 acres across the street. It is termed Agent Orange and left me with permanent lung damage. Perhaps we could address these “challenges” as well?? This is a great start however and I do sincerely appreciate the efforts to cleaning up the water. The sewers do not address the ground water issue wherein lies the seepage contamination that ends up in our drinking water. Ugly.
westside on January 19 at 9:11 p.m.
AND….. whats next……NO WASHING CARS ON DRIVEWAYS!!! PHOSPHATE SUDS RUN INTO STREET AND DOWN THE…drain!
reservedparking on January 19 at 10:19 p.m.
No big deal. Something else I can pick up in Idaho, along with dishwasher detergent. Save a couple percent on the sales tax, and a dime or so per gallon on gas as long as I’m over there.
Censored on January 19 at 11:14 p.m.
So the Spokane Golf courses are exempt. City / County run courses are exempt. Whats good for the people isn’t good for the fat asses in office or the gov. that tells us so. Say it aint so Ms. Govna. You mean this soap Ms. Govna?
If the city/county gov. spent the money they steal from us on the waste water treatment we would be much better off. How much does our state get from kick backs for forcing a product?
Free… we are far from it and as we the people continue to accept these “Do Gooders” as our reps we are going to fail and fail hard we will.
How many deaths in Spokane county can be attributed to the WATER BASED ROAD PAINT… Did you know that? Wonder why our road paint doesnt show… its water based and meant to wear out very fast, yet they claim its good. Show me one spot more than 90-days old that has any refraction left.
Spokane is a rip and a joke. Fire them all including the lawyers and get new faces and ideas in office. I for one and tired of all these career politicians. Make them work at K-Mart or Wally World as they support putting in the roads for them but not the impact they cause.