Photo by Joe Hart: 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.

DENNISVILLE –– Parents that are worried about allowing their children to play in public parks here for fear of contact with harmful pesticides can rest easier now.

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.

Freeholder Director Beyel said the county “formulated a pest management policy that we believe to be the safest and most economically and environmentally sound for the county.”

“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.”

Administrator Jody Alessandrine said that was not the direction township committee wanted to go in, and so decided to work with the others on a new resolution.

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.

The measure also states, “future bids for public law space will specify the use of natural organic products and methods.”

Under the policy, chemicals can only be used as a last resort when no other method has worked.

“We’re policing ourselves,” Alessandrine explained. “We hope this can be a model for other municipalities in Cape May County.”

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.

The signs, along with “Pesticide Free Zone” pamphlets, will be placed on municipal grounds throughout the township.

The pamphlets, developed by commission members, describe the township’s new policy and include valuable information such as organic lawn care tips, gardening schedules and environmental contacts.

“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.

Currently, DOT uses chemicals to kill vegetation around guardrails, mile markers and utility poles.

“In Dennis Township we don’t spray herbicides along the roadsides, but instead mow/cut weeds when needed,” Murphy wrote. “We are asking DOT to do the same in order to protect our waterways from herbicide runoff, and our residents from potential exposure.”

Would you like to see Pesticide Free Zones your community too?

For more information, contact Nogaki at (856) 912-6790 or visit her organization’s Web site at www.cleanwateraction.org/njef. On that site, you can find a model Integrated Pest Management resolution as well as suggestions on how to get support for the measure.

Contact Hart at (609) 886-8600 Ext 35 or at: jhart@cmcherald.com