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Council Seeks To Shield Zaharias Golf Course Neighbors From Pesticide

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By RICH SHOPES

The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 6, 2008

TAMPA - Residents need more notification before workers at the Babe Zaharias Golf Course spray a pesticide to kill worms, city council members said Thursday.

Neighbors say the once-a-year application of the Dow pesticide Curfew drifts to their properties and leaves them nauseated and lightheaded.

They accused the Tampa Sports Authority, which manages the course, of not doing enough to warn neighbors ahead of the spraying that they should avoid the course and close their windows. They also asked for a ban on the pesticide, noting Miami-Dade County has one.

"The days they put it on last week, it was so windy. It was blowing all over the place," said Noreen Follman, who lives on the course. She said her son collapsed a couple years ago after working in the yard.

Robert Lawson, another neighbor, said he and others have felt ill several times since the sports authority started using the chemical in 2001.

Rules prohibit spraying within 30 feet of houses, "but what difference does that make when the wind is blowing?" he said.

The council approved a resolution asking the Tampa Sports Authority to do a better job warning neighbors and for Hillsborough County's Environmental Protection Commission to study the effects of Curfew and suggest alternatives.

TSA officials said the pesticide is approved by the state Department of Agriculture and that warning signs go up around the golf course when it's sprayed. Curfew is applied yearly to fairways and tee boxes to kill worms that feed on grass.

In addition to signs, the authority sends e-mails to the Forest Hills Neighborhood Association, although residents said many neighbors don't know the spraying has happened until after they've walked on the course.

Councilman John Dingfelder urged that notification start days earlier and TSA officials personally supervise the spraying, which is conducted by a pesticide contractor.

The Tampa Sports Authority also manages two other city golf courses, Rogers Park Golf Club and Rocky Point Golf Club.

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