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More than 130 cities and counties in Florida have had rules in place limiting the use of fertilizers that contribute to algal blooms and fish kills that plague waterways like the Biscayne Bay.
Miami-Dade County was a holdout, until recently, though some cities within the county, such as Key Biscayne and Miami Beach, have passed their own rules.
Not only did the County Commission finally pass a fertilizer ordinance 11-1, it also created what environmentalists believe is the strongest local law in Florida — the “gold standard” of fertilizer rules.
The new ordinance prohibits fertilizer use from May 15 to Oct. 31 each year, which is a longer period than most ordinances in the state. Fertilizing is especially harmful during the rainy season, when the rain washes nutrients into canals that eventually end up in major waterways. That means that instead of helping your lawn grow greener, it’s actually feeding algae that strangles sea grass and contributes to fish kills like the one we saw in Biscayne Bay last year.
Higgins the sponsor
South Florida’s rainy season is longer, which is why Miami-Dade adopted a longer ban. The county also imposed stricter limits on fertilizer use outside of rainy reason. While many parts of the state require 50 percent of fertilizer use to be “slow-release,” Miami-Dade will require 65 percent.
Commissioner Eileen Higgins, who sponsored the legislation, and the rest of the commission deserve a thumbs up.
Enforcement starts Aug. 1, and violations carry the possibility of a $500 fine. But going after bad actors is virtually impossible in a county as big as Miami-Dade. Fertilizer bans have been successful when paired with campaigns to educate homeowners and businesses.
The new rules exempt farms, nurseries and golf courses, meaning some of the largest sources of fertilizer pollution won’t see changes (agriculture runoff is an issue especially in the southern part of the Bay). Fruit and vegetable gardens are exempt as well.
That’s why a fertilizer ban is just one of the many steps the commission will have to take to clean up Biscayne Bay, as recommended in a report released last year by a task force.
Fertilizers are one of four major sources of pollution in the Bay. The others are sewage leaks, stormwater runoff and septic tanks, Miami Waterkeeper Rachel Silverstein told the Editorial Board.
Septic-tank damage
Septic tanks are a can that the county and state of Florida have been kicking down the road for decades. We have known since the 1940s they were polluting the Bay. There are 120,000 properties on septic systems in Miami-Dade, and 56 percent of them are compromised. That issue is made worse by sea level rise, which causes groundwater levels to rise, soaking up the soil into which waste from septic tanks drains.
The Biscayne Bay Task Force recommended a mandatory septic-system registration and inspection program that prioritizes properties near the estuary and canals. That’s a good next step for the commission. Another piece of low-hanging fruit is connecting the 1,900 septic tanks that are most vulnerable to compromise or failure and that also are next to sewage-system pipes. A total of 12,000 septic systems are near sewer lines.
Getting rid of all septic tanks would cost an estimated $4 billion — and that doesn’t include the $7,500 to $40,000 it would cost homeowners. Fixing this issue will require long-term commitment and help from the state Legislature, which passed a bill this month that creates a permanent funding source for wastewater projects (unfortunately, lawmakers diverted money meant for another big issue in Miami-Dade, affordable housing, to do that).
We can commend county commissioners for taking an initial big step. But let’s also demand that they stay on track.
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