County considers action in dead-lawn case: homeowner speaks out
By Brandy Nance (Contact)
Originally published 02:33 p.m., August 8, 2008
Updated 05:33 p.m., August 8, 2008
The case of alleged misuse of lawn chemicals at 318 S. Market St. has been forwarded to the Lyon County Attorney’s Office for review.
The Kansas Department of Agriculture has closed its case, said Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman. Goodman said the Department of Agriculture isn’t taking action on the case and the files have been forwarded to his office for review.
Neighbors have accused the homeowners at the residence of misuse of lawn chemicals such as 2, 4-D and this year had the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Emporia Police Department, Lyon County Health Department, the Kansas Department of Agriculture and other agencies out to inspect the damage.
Goodman said more information on the case will be coming as soon as he has a chance to review the files. Goodman will determine if charges will be filed against the homeowners, who have denied any wrongdoing and were trying to kill the weeds in their lawn.
Cathy Coop, homeowner at 318 S. Market, says she and her husband John Roberts, who also resides at the home, have done nothing wrong.
“All we did was spray the weeds in our yard,” Coop said.
Coop denied that the wind speed was high when Roberts was spraying.
“The wind speed was like 7 miles an hour,” she said. “Not 15 to 20 like was stated.”
In a narrative from the Kansas Department of Agriculture provided to the Gazette, a neighbor, Larry Hayes had contacted the agency and reported that a neighbor had applied chemicals to their lawn and it drifted on Hayes’ tomato plants.
The reported stated that there was not a path of drying plant material leading up to Hayes’ house and there were no physical signs of drift. The report also said that “the KSU Plant Diagnostic Laboratory issued an opinion that the drooping and wilting of tomato plants was due to cultural practices of Mr. Hayes and heavy rainfall. Using the buckets to plant in and having heavy rainfall tends to drive oxygen out of the soil...”
In a Lyon County Commission meeting, neighbors accused Coop and Roberts of pouring diesel fuel on their yard. According to reports, there was no evidence of this allegation. Coop said what they applied was 2,4-D that they purchased at Bluestem Farm and Ranch Supply. The applications were done on May 2 and May 12.
The report goes on to state that when the inspector drove through the neighborhood it appeared that “three lawns had been treated with herbicides in the previous week or two. On those lawns, weeds and dandelions were not present as they were on the other lawns.” The school site across the street also appeared to be treated to “stop the growth of grass and weeds along fences and along the building foundation.” The inspector stated that there was no evidence of a trail of dead or dying plant material leading to Roberts and Coop’s home.
The inspector interviewed an Emporia Police officer who stated that he could not provide information with regard to complaints made by either neighbors. “He did say that the neighborhood seemed to always be in turmoil involving Mr. Hayes, Mr. Roberts, or their neighbor north of Roberts. Allegations and cross-allegations have been received numerous times with no final resolution,” the report stated.
Coop said Roberts did receive a letter of warning from the Kansas Department of Agriculture about the usage of chemicals on their lawn.
“That was the action the department of ag took against us,” she said. “Because there is actually no damage on any other the other properties. They send a letter out on the warning of the pesticide spray. There’s no damage on either property regardless of what’s going around. There’s no grass in their yard that is dead. Mr. Hayes has four foot weeds in his yard.”
Coop said they just want to be left alone.
“I’m really getting tired of this. It’s ridiculous,” she said. “It’s nobody’s business what goes on in my yard.”
Comments
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Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 3:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All of these people out to look but no charges? What are the findings, gazette? Is this a news story or a tempest in a teapot?
Posted by TeamKansas (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 4:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Go read the story on KVOE.com .......... much more informative and you actually leave the story know more than you did before you read it.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 4:18 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i dont understand, if this has been going on a long time why is now that its a problem? im not a gardener so im sure there is something i dont understand
Posted by dhcc66 (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)
it's been turned over to the county attorney's office for review. i'd read the kvoe spot...they are right, it's much more informative
Posted by jayhawker (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 8:30 p.m. (Suggest removal)
KVOE did do a better job of explaining the situation. I'm not sure what "cultural practices" are in this story. Can anyone help me out? Also, I noticed that planting tomatoes in a bucket causes the soil to lose oxygen, according to the story. I wonder if that is true with the hanging baskets that have become popular recently. Can anyone help with this one, too?
Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on August 8, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I read the KVOE piece. The questions remain the same.
Posted by create (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 7:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
"cultural practices" means how the tomatoes were planted or cultured -- in a bucket instead of in the ground. When you plant in an enclosed space like a bucket or a pot or a hanging basket, the soil needs to be fluffy or aerated by either vermiculite or perlite which are organic substances so the roots of the plant can receive oxygen. Other cultural practices include things like the use of specific fertilizers, watering techniques, staking or not staking, that sort of thing. Each of those buckets may have contained water on the bottoms in what is called an earthbox which is designed so you don't have to water all the time. That is a cultural technique or practice too. Hope that helps.
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 8:52 a.m. (Suggest removal)
“the KSU Plant Diagnostic Laboratory issued an opinion that the drooping and wilting of tomato plants was due to cultural practices of Mr. Hayes and heavy rainfall."
Sounds to me like the complaining party needs to change his ways and stop blaming his poor gardening practices on the neighbors. My tomatoes were poor this year due to all the spring rain we got. I rotate my garden plantings each year and unfortunately my tomatoes ended up at the lowest spot of the garden this year where drainage was poor. They will never be planted there again. Have to wonder why he singled out Mr. Roberts and didn't blame the school district who obviously sprayed herbicide along their fence as well? What about the other neighbors who used weed control measures? My neighbors sprayed their farm fields via a crop duster airplane this year, but that isn't why my garden did poor this year. Is Mr Hayes by chance the Hayes that used to be in charge of the Maintenance department of the school district? If so, that answers part of my question.
Posted by USNretired (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
This would make a good sit-com episode.
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 12:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
i sounds like the media should have at least waited for the results to report this instead of reporting it when it was a mere complaint. if this is truly the decision by the ag dept, then the Roberts deserve an apology.
Posted by create (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 12:08 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It doesn't sound as if it is over yet, at least not after reading that "Goodman said more information on the case will be coming as soon as he has a chance to review the files. Goodman will determine if charges will be filed against the homeowners,..."
Posted by slipandslide (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 3:16 p.m. (Suggest removal)
neighbor, Larry is retired from working at the landfill
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on August 9, 2008 at 5:33 p.m. (Suggest removal)
thanks
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