State rejects NE Indiana county’s ban on phosphorous lawn fertilizers blamed for algae trouble

NE Ind. county’s lawn fertilizer ban rejected

INDIANAPOLIS — A northeastern Indiana county that calls itself “the land of 101 lakes” has lost its bid to ban certain lawn fertilizers blamed for worsening algae blooms that have given some of its bodies of water a greenish cast.

Supporters of Steuben County’s now-nullified ban — the first of its kind in Indiana to target lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous — are disappointed by the Indiana State Chemist Office’s Jan. 25 decision against the county.

County commissioners had hoped their ordinance banning the use of such fertilizers would help improve the water quality in the county’s natural glacial lakes and their manmade counterparts, said Commissioner Ron Smith.

Each year, the county’s lakes generate an estimated $130 million in revenue from part-time residents visiting summer lake homes and boaters, anglers and water enthusiasts, he said.

Smith said the lakes’ water quality has improved over the past 20 years as many farmers have taken steps to reduce field runoff into waterways.

“Our lakes are much cleaner, but this ban was another attempt on the part of the county to improve the quality of our waters,” Smith said.

He believes the Indiana State Chemist Office rejected the county’s request for a waiver for its ban because approving it would have set a precedent, opening the door for other counties to follow with their own laws.

The county in Indiana’s far northeastern corner passed its ordinance in July 2007, with exemptions for farmers and new lawns that often need phosphorous, a naturally occurring nutrient.

The commissioners later learned that only the State Chemist Office can regulate the storage and use of fertilizers in Indiana.

State Chemist Robert Waltz asked the county to seek a waiver for its ban, then listened to the county’s arguments during a November hearing.

Bill Schmidt, a member of the Steuben County Lakes Council who argued the county’s case, said phosphorous in fertilizer being applied to lawns around the county is fueling both algae blooms and the growth of aquatic weeds that can clog the lakes.

“There’s a lot of money spent each year trying to control those weeds,” he said. “People don’t want to come to green, scummy lakes.”

In his decision, Waltz said his office accepted the science showing that fertilizers with phosphorous can cause algae blooms in waters. But he found that the county failed to demonstrate that “special circumstances” existed to support approving the waiver.

Waltz said Tuesday that Indiana law specifies that such a “special” situation must be met and the county did not demonstrate that its needs were different from any other county.

“I recognize the value of lakes, and in any county in Indiana we want to protect all of those, but I don’t see that this warranted a special case,” he said.

Waltz also found that the county failed to show that banning the targeted fertilizers would have improved its lakes’ water quality and that it had no plan to enforce the law.

His decision also rejected a waiver sought by Clear Lake, a Steuben County town that passed a similar ban in 2007.

Rae Schnapp, the water policy director of the Hoosier Environmental Council, said the Purdue University-based State Chemist Office’s decision was “a foregone conclusion” because Waltz had set too high of a burden for the county and town to meet.

Schnapp said she sees the State Chemist’s office as closely linked to the fertilizer industry through Purdue’s agricultural programs.