New Canaan should fully disclose its use of pesticides to treat some athletic fields, establish a panel to regularly review the chemicals’ application here and seek public input on their use, according to Selectman Kathleen Corbet. The town also should figure out how much it would cost to “[maintain] pesticide-free athletic fields by over-seeding them,” Corbet said in a draft memo to the Board of Selectmen, obtained by NewCanaanite.com through a public records request. “Once further study and review of pesticide usage is engaged, consider public hearings, surveys, or other means by which community input is garnered,” the memo said. “In the last 12 years, new health studies, legislation, alternative products and applications have been developed and it is appropriate for the [t]own bodies and our community to be well-informed about the risks, benefits and limitations of pesticides and organic alternatives.”
The memo follows Corbet’s own questioning of why the town still uses pesticides on some playing fields serving youth while the chemicals are banned by state law on some others—namely, elementary and middle school property—and by local policy at New Canaan High School.
At Corbet’s prompting, First Selectman Kevin Moynihan indicated this month that it would review its use of pesticides. Currently, playing fields at Waveny and Mead Parks, as well as Conner Field off of Farm Road, get a midsummer application of pesticides (Irwin Park hasn’t had fertilizer or pesticides applied since June 2019 due to budget cuts).
Parks officials have said it’s less expensive to use pesticides than to over-seed and maintain fields organically.
