Peachtree City’s sports fields have gone for more than a year without being sprayed with weed-preventing chemicals.

The herbicide treatments have been suspended due to health concerns after some soccer players were exposed to chemicals and developed medical complications two years ago.

Now, the city’s top recreation official is recommending the sprayings resume, but in a different manner. Randy Gaddo, the city’s director of leisure services, says the city should split each of its regular applications up into two applications, spread out over a five- to six-week period.

“This not only reduces the amount of herbicide being used each time, but it also extends the effectiveness over a longer period of time,” Gaddo said in a memo to the City Council. The matter will be discussed at Thursday night’s council meeting.

Although the new schedule won’t guarantee weed-free sports fields, it should be enough to keep them in safe playing condition, Gaddo noted.

The city is also proceeding with testing the water and sediment being used in the pond that irrigates the fields at the Highway 74 south baseball and soccer complex. Those tests could cost between $2,800 and $4,000, Gaddo said.

Local biologist Dennis Chase said that the water, which comes from Line Creek, also could have caused the respiratory symptoms reported by parents of the soccer players who have complained to the city.

Additionally, the city will continue to study the use of organic and synthetic turf management applications, but as Gaddo noted the issue is fairly complex and “for every potential solution there are downsides that must be considered.”

Gaddo plans to hold a workshop-style panel discussion on the issue in the future with representatives from the University of Georgia, the Georgia Department of Agriculture, the turf management industry (both traditional and organic based methods) and environmental control consultants.

login to post comments