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It took a lot of work, manually pulling more than 56 cubic yards of weeds – or about five dump-truck loads – and covering swaths of parkland with wood chips. But after a one-year trial that ended in March, maintenance contractors in Menlo Park say that beating back unwanted weed growth at four city parks without herbicides can be done.
Now, all city parks are slated to get the same treatment in coming years. In a unanimous vote May 2, the Menlo Park City Council (with Mayor Kirsten Keith absent) decided to eliminate herbicide use from all city parks.
The trial
During the one-year trial, staff said, the park maintenance contractors pulled the 56.5 cubic yards of weeds at the city’s Willow Oaks, Stanford Hills and Fremont parks. A contracted mower and city staff also maintained Bedwell Bayfront Park without using herbicides.
The areas were then covered with mulch. While there still is some unwanted weed growth, the mulch has slowed the growth, staff say, and that will lower costs moving forward.
Overall, going herbicide-free was received positively by the public and has resulted in less Roundup being sprayed that could enter the water and possibly the Bay, staff said.
For all four parks, the trial cost $128,550 during the first year, or 54 cents per square foot. In the second year and following years, the expected cost to maintain herbicide-free weed control in those parks is $60,000, or about 24 cents per square foot. The high upfront cost is due to the cost of the mulch and labor for the first, heaviest round of manual weed removal, according to staff.
The council agreed to let staff and the Parks & Recreation Commission develop a phased approach to eliminate herbicides at all 16 of the city’s parks, thereby spreading the expected first-year cost of $1.5 million over several years. After all parks go herbicide-free, staff say, annual costs are estimated to be $700,000.
Councilman Ray Mueller said he thought the cost was worth it.
Councilwoman Catherine Carlton asked the rhetorical question, “How much are you willing to pay to not poison your children?”
Councilman Rich Cline asked that the Parks & Recreation commission also look into starting an “Adopt-A-Park” program, in which local businesses could do some parks maintenance work on a voluntary basis.
Roundup danger?
In recent months, legal battles have been raging as to whether the primary ingredient in Roundup, called glyphosate, is a carcinogen.
The chemical is considered to have “low toxicity” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, but has been labeled as a “probable human carcinogen,” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a branch of the U.N. World Health Organization.
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment in September 2015 moved to require Monsanto, the producer of Roundup, to label Roundup as a possible cancer threat.
Monsanto sued the state, and in March, a California state judge threw out the suit.
Roundup is one of the most widely used – if not the most widely used – herbicides in the world.
The initial concerns that led to the city considering an herbicide-free pilot came from efforts by the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board and San Mateo County to develop a plan to clean up the Bay’s water by reducing herbicide and pesticide use, according to a staff report.
Glyphosate is one of many pollutants that have been found in the San Francisco Bay, because after it is sprayed on plants, it can enter stormwater and flow into the Bay.
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Thank you, City Council!
Excellent decision.
Now how do we get this herbicide-free rule applied to all public and private schools (pre-school thru 12th grade), and child and senior day care facilities, tot-lots and playing fields.
And the tough one – private residences, town-homes, condos, apartments commercial and industrial properties.
Quick action hopefully on the schools and playing field section and probably baby-steps on the later.
whatever — “Quick action hopefully on the schools and playing field section and probably baby-steps on the later.”
With an engaged citizenry, that should be possible. The trick is to get the people affected by this to become engaged, and to keep them engaged.
Grassroots organizations should make it possible.
All prohibitions have created catastrophic ecological carnage of uncontrolled, invasive, and destructive pests ! Without conventional pest control products, green spaces & hard-landscapes have become pest-infested and dangerous garbage dumps because it is impossible to control invasive weeds and destructive insects by using so-called green alternative pesticides & practices.
Outside of Menlo Park, in Ontario, the reckless and arbitrary imposition of fanatical-prohibition since 2009 has proven NOT in the best interest of health and environment. Sadly, Ontario’s prohibition has created catastrophic ecological pest carnage. No one, either in Ontario or in Menlo Park, wants to live in #@!!% dangerous and pest-infested urban landscapes that look like garbage dumps !
Congrats on a good decision!
Now, how can we get rid of the “parklet” on Chestnut? How is that astroturf disinfected from baby poo, spilled food & beverages, and waste from the homeless overnighters who set up camp along the perimeters? Who pays to pickup the trash & arrange the chairs every night? Would it be unreasonable to expect people to hang out @ Fremont Park?
Blocking Chestnut @ Santa Cruz creates even more parking lot egress confusion than existed previously. It was supposed to be just for last summer. As a long time (many decades) operator & patron of businesses @ that corner, it’s hugely inconvenient, especially for handicapped patrons, not to be able to be dropped off closer to the corner. If you keep the parklet, you need a stop sign on Menlo Ave @ Chestnut. The lanes in the lots are very narrow & people now must use them as if they were streets, to avoid having to exit onto Menlo Ave.
Observers can now predict with certainty that prohibition in Menlo Park will inflict catastrophic ecological pest carnage. Here is what the residents of Menlo Park can expect … … • municipal & residential properties have been ruined by uncontrolled weed invasion & insect destruction • weeds have invaded lawns, and dandelions have become the dominant ground cover • lawns have been decimated by destructive insects like White Grubs • playing surfaces have become hazardous to children who are at high risk of tripping and becoming seriously hurt • infra-structures have been damaged by invasive noxious plants like Japanese Knotweed & Giant Hogweed • mature street trees have been perishing • rose plantations have been dying.
It is a recognized fact that prohibition is unnecessary since pest control products are scientifically-safe, practically-non-toxic, and will cause NO harm.
How do we ban Caltrans’ broadcast spraying on our state Highways 280, 84, 35, 1, & 101 ? Thousands of gallons of Glyphosate, Milestone, Activator 90, Gallery 75DF, and Dimension Ultra 40WP were broadcast sprayed ALL along Hwy.280 from San Bruno to San Jose in January, February, March 2017, and for decades. What about protecting our watershed, water sources and public health ? We need to ban these toxic poisons: there ARE bans around schools, in some communities and COUNTRIES!
Please report more on this issue. THANK you, MP City Council, for your leadership on protecting of our health. Thank you to The Almanac for covering this GOOD news !
Many of you have probably come across this dangerous chemical being put into food-raising fields and possibly many other places
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It’s time to restore this overpopulated area to a healthy environment, especially the air quality. Nothing will be done about automobile emissions in the near future, but we can demand that our politicians outlaw the use of these chemicals.
http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2017/05/california-farm-workers-just-got-poisoned-nasty-pesticide-greenlghted-trump
thank you, City Council.
and folks, please inform your gardeners to STOP using Roundup. Hint: if they’re applying a spray while wearing gloves and a mask you can assume it’s toxic. same goes for all the Pest Control companies that work around town, there are non toxic alternatives that won’t release poisons into the ecosystems.
I am greatly relieved that the Menlo Park City Council has decided to ban herbicides from our city parks. As a dog owner, it has been very stressful to pull my dog away from eating grass on the city park lawns. Now, I can feel much safer for my dog. I am sure everyone else will safer too for their pets ,children and themselves.
Thank you city council members for taking this courageous action!