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Mayor Announces Citywide IPM Policy and Appoints IPM Advisory Committee
On Thursday, September 11, 1997 Mayor Thomas B. Concannon, Jr. announced a new citywide Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy, the first and most comprehensive of its kind in the Commonwealth. Newton's new IPM policy commits the City of Newton to reducing and eventually eliminating the use of pesticides in all city-owned buildings and grounds.
An Integrated Pest Management (IPM) policy employs a full range of proven principles and practices that emphasizes identifying and correcting conditions that allow weeds, insects or rodents to thrive. IPM is a common sense approach to managing landscapes and buildings that calls on site managers and site users to work together to prevent pest problems and to protect people, especially children, from exposure to pesticides while preventing the contamination of soil, air, and water. It allows the City of Newton to benefit from better planning, prevention and responsible management, saving money and preventing pollution at the same time. Mayor Concannon emphasizes, "We would be irresponsible not to adopt this approach."
Key components of the new IPM policy are citizen information and education. The IPM policy requires public documentation and pre-notification of pesticide uses and the posting of pesticide warning signs for all indoor and outdoor uses of pesticides in public spaces (schools, parks, and other public lands and buildings.) Notification and posting is both a vehicle to promote greater citizen awareness of specific pesticide hazards and to increase citizen involvement in improving environmental practices. New contract language for pest control and landscaping services is one immediate impact of the new IPM policy and guidelines.
GreenCAP, the Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides of the Green Decade Coalition/Newton, hopes that publicity and public education about Newton's IPM policy will inspire Newton's property owners to learn about alternatives to pesticides and work to reduce use of landscape chemicals and pesticides in their own homes and neighborhoods.
To oversee the policy's implementation, Mayor Concannon will appoint an IPM Advisory Committee. The committee will consist of members of two "working groups" who have been meeting during the past year to define weed control guidelines for parks and schools fields and pest control guidelines for schools and public buildings. The policy was developed under the leadership of the Landscape Maintenance Task Force whose chairman, Doug Dickson, will become IPM Advisory Committee Chair. The committee's responsibilities will include making recommendations regarding policy implementation, data collection, record keeping, and education. The committee will provide ongoing advice on IPM practices and decisions and will be a forum for community input and education.
The IPM Advisory Committee Members:
- Tom Cahill (Newton Parks and Recreation Department)
- Bob DeLuca (Newton Health Department)
- Doug Dickson (Chair)
- Steve Fauteaux (Newton Youth Soccer League)
- Ellie Goldberg (GreenCAP, the Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides of the Green Decade Coalition/Newton)
- Bob Hoffman (Representing the Workplace Safety Team of the Change Management Committee)
- Jane Parker (Newton PTO Health and Safety Chairperson)
- Joe Reardon (Newton Public Buildings)
- Ken Temkin (Newton Public Schools)
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