WASHINGTON — Montgomery County Councilman Roger Berliner asked the director of the National Cancer Institute to weigh in on a bill that would ban some pesticides and lawn chemicals and restrict others.
Citing questions about assertions that lawn chemicals already in use could pose a threat to pets, humans and the environment, Berliner told the audience in a packed hearing room last month, “Because it is a lot about the science, we are going to have two work sessions devoted solely to trying to understand both the science and the implications of this legislation.”
On Tuesday, Berliner sent a letter to National Cancer Institute Director Harold Varmus asking for his help on the bill.
“Based on the NCI’s rich history of research on associations between environmental exposures and cancer, it seems that the NCI is uniquely positioned to assist us in this important matter,” Berliner wrote in the letter.
The bill would ban certain pesticides on private property as well as on parkland, fields and some county properties.
Montgomery County Council President George Leventhal is pushing Bill 52-14, saying, “The lawn care industry is already changing to meet the times and meet consumer demand. … Consumers want fewer toxic chemicals already.”
At a hearing last month, lawn care companies appeared split on the issue, with some saying the restrictions are a welcome sign of environmental awareness, others suggesting the measure will let pests and weeds thrive but kill jobs.
Read the letter below:
CM Berliner Letter to NCI on Pesticides
WTOP’s Kate Ryan contributed to this report.
