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NonToxic Neighborhoods urges Beaufort County to adopt organic turf and park management
Summary
Kim Conte of NonToxic Neighborhoods presented research linking childhood pesticide exposure to developmental harms, cited Hilton Head and Bluffton policy adoptions, and asked Beaufort County to consider an organic-land-management policy and staff training; committee members asked for cost and vector-control details and requested staff follow up.
A national nonprofit that advocates for organic management of parks and athletic fields told the Beaufort County Community Service & Public Safety Committee on March 16 that the county could adopt an organic policy to reduce children’s pesticide exposure and adopt a model already used by Hilton Head and Bluffton.
Kim Conte, founder of NonToxic Neighborhoods, described the group’s decade of work and said studies link gestational and early-life pesticide exposure with lower IQ and behavioral disorders. "It's the DDT of our generation," Conte said, urging the county to consider nonchemical tools and training for applicators.
Conte reviewed local examples: she said Hilton Head adopted an organic-first policy in 2024 and Bluffton followed, and she described training and vendor-procurement templates the nonprofit provides so local staff and contractors can implement organic practices without large cost increases. Committee members asked how the policy would overlap with vector-control (mosquito) programs and whether state-prescribed lists used for roadside mosquito control would limit adoption; Conte and staff said vector control is a distinct policy area that may require partnership with Clemson and state agencies and that emergency exemptions for public-health threats would remain.
Committee response: several members expressed support but asked staff to return with concrete data on current pesticide use, cost estimates, and where the county could achieve early wins. Staff said they would prepare a briefing with the county's pesticide inventory and options for phased adoption.
What happens next: staff agreed to work with NonToxic Neighborhoods to supply the requested usage data and to draft potential resolution or policy language for committee review at a future meeting.
