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Resident urges ban on broad‑spectrum herbicides after pesticide application at Will Baker Park
Summary
Resident Steve McCarter told the Decorah City Council that a contracted applicator sprayed a three‑way herbicide (2,4‑D, MCPP and dicamba) on a city soccer field without required warning signage and urged the council to adopt an ordinance prohibiting broad‑spectrum herbicides on playing fields and park grounds.
Steve McCarter told the Decorah City Council that a contracted lawn‑care crew sprayed a three‑way herbicide containing 2,4‑D, MCPP and dicamba on the Will Baker Park soccer field and failed to post warning signage. McCarter said the spraying occurred days before children from Kinder House Preschool walked along the nearby Upper Iowa River and that he found empty pesticide containers in a truck adjacent to the field.
"These are potent poisons which can harm people, plants, and animals," McCarter said, warning that the mixture’s known risks to pregnant women, young children and immunocompromised people were not communicated to trail users or parents. He told the council the chemicals’ toxic half‑life can be two weeks or longer and said hundreds of young children had been on the grass four days after application.
McCarter urged the council to adopt policies or ordinances forbidding the use of broad‑spectrum herbicides on playing fields and park grounds, saying "This should never have happened and must never happen again." He offered to answer questions and distributed an information handout to council members.
City Manager Travis and the parks and recreation director later clarified that the treated area perimeter had been flagged and that the parks director had removed the flags hours after application; staff also told the council the spraying was done by a contracted lawn‑care company and that, according to staff, the required warning signage had not been clearly posted as residents expect.
Council members responded by saying the matter will be added to a future agenda for discussion. One council member recommended exploring an ordinance to limit pesticide use on parks and recreational fields; another said staff should coordinate clear signage and public notification in the near term.
The council did not take immediate formal action at the meeting; members signaled they would place pesticide policy and related public‑safety items on an upcoming agenda for further discussion.
