Are the herbicides used on our lawns harming our pets and ourselves?

Inverness Resident Danielle Pearson has emailed the board expressing her concern that the herbicides used on the common lawns may be causing severe or fatal health problems to our pets and perhaps to humans. The company that applies the herbicide has responded. Board member Sabine Dohrn, who is knowledgeable about environmental issues, has given her assessment of the issue.

The board wants to hear the views of our residents before making a decision on whether to continue to use herbicides on our common area lawns. So, I am unveiling a new survey tool to make it easy for you to tell us your views and opinions. Whether you are for the continued use of herbicides, against the use of herbicides, or don't have a strong opinion on the matter, please take a few moments to fill out the opinion survey. The greater the participation in the survey, the more useful the results will be toward helping the board make a decision.

Here is an excerpt from Danielle Pearson's email:

"I am the homeowner who has questioned the use of herbicides on our common areas... Within the last two years 5 out of 8 dogs on my court have had cancer, most have since died. It is the feeling of my radiation oncologist vet that this may be a harbinger of things to come in our children. It is difficult if not impossible to stay off the common areas when they are treated".
Click for Danielle Pearson's complete email

The company that applied the herbicide responded in part:

"We have hundreds of customers whose lawns we have treated for over 20 years, literally thousands of services, whose pets have experienced no such problems. The fact that 5 out of 8 dogs on this court have developed cancer suggests they look elsewhere for the cause, radon gas, commercial pet food (which is totally unregulated) or some other problem".
Click here for the complete response

Here is an excerpt from Sabine Dohrn's views:

"While manufacturers and contractors would like to convince us that the herbicides are "safe" when used according to the instructions (which nobody can verify), many people are concerned and find that even minimal doses of toxins are objectionable..."
Click here for Sabine Dohrn's complete respons

Now it's your turn to express an opinion

Please click on the link below to take the survey. I will report the survey results to the board at the March 12, 2009 meeting. Taking the survey not only lets you tell us your opinion on this issue, but it also gives the board a way to judge the effectiveness of this tool for collecting the views of community residents. So even if you don't have a strong opinion on this issue ("No strong opinion" is one of the choices), please take the survey anyway. It will take less than a minute. Here is the link to the survey:

Herbicide Survey

Harvey
ifatreasurer@mac.com