INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — In a big win for the Indian River Lagoon and waters throughout Florida, The Scotts Miracle-Gro Company has pledged to remove all phosphorous from its bestselling Turf-Builder brand fertilizers by the end of the year.
That is great news for Indian River County because dissolved phosphorous and nitrogen from fertilizer that washes off lawns in storms is a major source of lagoon pollution.
Scotts’ leadership in phosphorus and nitrogen reduction nationwide is important because the $3-billlion-a- year company is the world’s largest manufacturer of branded consumer lawn and garden products and other industry players are likely to follow in its eco-friendly footsteps.
“We applaud Scotts Miracle-Gro for taking this important step,” said Larry Schweiger, president of the National Wildlife Foundation. “Keeping our waterways clean and healthy is good for people and wildlife.”
County Commissioners praised the ecological benefits of the move when it was announced at a recent commission meeting but seemed oblivious to the primary reason for the company’s actions — the Florida Department of Agriculture’s issuance in 2009 of the Florida Urban Turf Rule “to protect water quality by restricting phosphorous and nitrogen application rates in fertilizer for urban turf and lawns.”
Commissioners complimented Scotts for its educational and environmental initiatives while ignoring or denying the role played by government.
The issue of fertilizer pollution in the lagoon heated up last year after ORCA – the Ocean Research and Conservation Association – mapped high levels of organic chemicals between the Barber Bridge and 17th Street Causeway.
The results of that study set off alarm bells for residents and politicians across Indian River County.
The cities of Vero Beach, Sebastian and the Town of Indian River Shores have since passed fertilizer regulations to help protect the estuary Vero Beach Mayor Pilar Turner says contributes $800 million annually to the county economy.
But the county commission has steadfastly refused to follow suit.
Commissioner Bob Solari said he won’t support regulation to protect the lagoon from fertilizer poisoning because government ordinances are corrosive to the human spirit.
Other commissioners said they won’t act to save the lagoon because they are waiting for the state to act, or because they are angry the state is requiring them to take action on the matter, or because they don’t think a fertilizer ordinance would be enforceable, or because they aren’t sure it would work.
All of them state a preference for education over regulation.
Scotts Miracle-Gro representative Molly Jennings told the commission of the company’s plan to eliminate phosphorous from its most popular fertilizer products by the end of the year, and she mentioned the importance of educating lawn-care professionals and consumers about proper fertilizer use.
“We train retailers and employ our own associates in stores and garden centers during peak lawn-care season to educate consumers,” Jennings said. “We also print best management practices for fertilizer use right on the bag.”
“Thank you Scotts for doing the right thing,” said Commissioner Joe Flescher.
“I think this is the way to get this done properly,” said Commission Chairman Gary Wheeler. “Education is a good thing. I think one of the worst coined phrases I have ever heard is, ‘There ought to be a law.’”
However, Scotts’ phosphorous reductions are due in large part to a state law.
The Florida Urban Turf Rule mandated lower levels of both chemicals and required best management practices be printed on fertilizer bags.
Jennings mentioned the Urban Turf Rule in her presentation, noting it has resulted in a 70 percent reduction in phosphorous use and a 30 precedent reduction in nitrogen use in the state, but Wheeler and other commissioners did not seem to hear that part of her statement prior to the chairman’s comment about “the worst coined phrase.”
“I don’t know if we started reducing phosphorous solely because of the Urban Turf Rule, but it started around that time,” said Jennings.
Wheeler said after the meeting he knew a state statute motivated Scotts’ phosphorous reductions but that “there are laws and there are laws,” implying a county ordinance regulating fertilizer use would not have a similar positive effect.
He also said ordinances “mainly just hurt the people who follow them.”
Once Scotts began looking at phosphorous reductions, its scientists realized the chemical is not actually helpful to most lawns. The company has since gone beyond state mandates with its reductions and will eliminate all phosphorus from its Turf-Builder brand by the end of 2012.
There will still be phosphorous in Scotts’ starter fertilizers for new lawns because the chemical is helpful in turf establishment. It will also remain in the company’s organic fertilizers.
“They haven’t found a way to take it out of the organic products,” Jennings says.
Scotts uses eco-friendly “slow-release” nitrogen in many of its products.
