Indianapolis-The state chemist’s office, exercising an authority unique to Indiana, has turned down a request by Steuben County in northeastern Indiana and the town of Clear Lake to ban lawn fertilizers containing phosphorous in order to improve water quality in the county, which calls itself the Land of 101 Lakes. The chemist’s office, located at Purdue University, held that testimony did not establish that the ban would effectively mitigate the further development of what the petitioners described as worsening algae blooms that give some of the waters a greenish cast. The petitioners insisted that the condition is discouraging the use of the waters by boaters, tourists, and summer residents, who generate an estimated $130 million in annual revenue. The final determination, signed by Dr. Robert Waltz, state chemist and seed commissioner, held that the ordinance would be unenforceable because local enforcement was not considered a highly desired outcome and no other strategy was presented to achieve the outcome. Steuben Commissioner Ron Smith noted that the water quality of the lakes has improved over the past 20 years as many farmers have taken steps to reduce field runoff. “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. Waltz told Green Markets that “the provision that the state chemist specifically identified as the official response to these requests is probably unique to Indiana {whereas} in most states other officials and agencies may be given the same or very similar responsibilities.”
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