Associated Press
Traces of an herbicide toxic to garden vegetables has been found in compost in Washington state and two other states, and the discovery has worried the lawn waste recycling industry.
Compost and recycling companies said their businesses could go bankrupt unless the herbicide is eliminated.
"You cannot have a system that mandates recycling of green waste and license a garden chemical that makes the waste unrecyclable," said Gabriella Uhlar-Heffner, solid waste manager for Seattle’s public utility company.
The small amounts of Clopyralid, produced by Indianapolis based-Dow AgroSciences, were found in compost made from recycled grass, straw and manure in Washington, California and Pennsylvania, as well as New Zealand.
California’s Integrated Waste Management Board assured its compost industry on Thursday that it has been investigating Clopyralid. So-called "green waste" makes up one-third of the waste generated in the state.
"We are not interested in having any compost business going out of business or going belly up. We do anything we can do to support the viability of the composting industry and to keep green waste out of landfills," waste board spokeswoman Roni Java said Thursday.
The herbicide, used mainly to kill weeds, is not deadly to humans or animals, but it can kill vegetables such as peppers, tomatoes and potatoes.
It is used in dozens of products popular with crop farmers and commercial lawn-care companies.
Clopyralid kills plants by imitating hormones called auxins and causing abnormal growth. During commercial composting, most chemicals used in lawn care and agriculture break down completely enough to satisfy organic farmers, but Clopyralid survives the process. It can remain lethal up to 18 months after spraying.
Nationally, compost companies accept about 28 million tons of yard trimmings each year. The material comes from more than 9,700 curbside collection programs run by city and county sanitation departments in 37 states.
Some areas are finding high levels of the herbicide in its compost. In Washington, Clopyralid residues are at rates of 50 to 1,500 parts per billion, five to 300 times higher than the amount needed to kill sensitive plants.
The chemical was first found in the soil around dying plants in 1999 in Spokane.
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