Seattle-Landscapers and others support the idea of reducing phosphorus runoff, but think the bill currently in the Washington state legislature has too many flaws. For one, the Washington Assn. of Landscape Professionals is concerned that jurisdiction over fertilizer would be shifted from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Ecology, which the group insists is not the right location. The association’s legislative chair, Rick Longnecker, who owns Buds & Blades Landscape Co., pointed out that enforcement would be put at the local level, making it difficult for businesses to operate with several different municipalities or counties in the mix. Heather Hanson, who represents farm groups and landscapers, said phosphorus occurs naturally in the environment and that it is impossible to separate it from some organic fertilizers. The bill requires expensive soil tests and ties enforcement actions to neighbor complaints, she said. Longnecker added, “Based on studies abroad and locally, we aren’t convinced that the phosphorus runoff is caused by fertilizers. It’s our position that phosphorus binds to the soil, in the root zone, until it is used by the plant for uptake. Very little, if any, is actually runoff caused by fertilizer.” The current bill comes on top of state-imposed restrictions for laundry and dishwasher detergents that would require low- or no-phosphorus fertilizers for lawns but would not restrict golf courses or farms. Washington banned phosphate laundry detergents in 1993, and imposed similar conditions on dishwashing detergents in 2008 starting in Spokane, Clark, and Whatcom counties that take effect this year in the rest of the state.
Transparency Across the Fertilizer Value-Chain