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Hillsborough Wants To Reduce Nitrogen In Waterways

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: January 16, 2009

TAMPA - Massive amounts of nitrogen flowing into area waterways need to be reduced, speakers at a Hillsborough County Environmental Protection Commission meeting said Thursday.

They disagreed on how that reduction should be achieved, however.

So county commissioners, sitting as the environmental commission board, asked EPC staff to hold workshops that will include scientists, environmentalists and the fertilizer and landscaping industries.

"Lock the door, make them work together and come out with something," Commissioner Jim Norman said, half-jokingly.

Some workshops will be scheduled before Feb. 19, when commissioners meet again as the EPC board, said Tony D'Aquila, EPC director of environmental resources management.

Environmental groups want the commission to adopt a fertilizer ordinance developed by the Tampa Bay Estuary Program, a public-private group dedicated to reducing pollution in the Bay.

The estuary program estimates residential runoff, including fertilizers, constitutes about 32 percent of the total nitrogen carried to the Bay. Nitrogen pollution lowers oxygen in waterways, killing fish and seagrass.

A key component of the proposed ordinance, a ban on using nitrogen fertilizer during the summer rainy season, is opposed by the fertilizer and lawn care industries, as well as University of Florida scientists. They dispute environmentalists' claim that summer rains wash fertilizers off lawns and into storm drains.

George Hochmuth, a scientist from the University of Florida, told commissioners that turf grass absorbs more nitrogen during the summer than other seasons. During the fall, Hochmuth said, the roots "go away," allowing more nitrogen to leach into ground water.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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