Photo by Adam Vogler
The Lyon County Attorney hasn’t decided whether to file charges in the case of alleged misuse of lawn chemicals at 318 S. Market St.
Lyon County Attorney Marc Goodman has the case and it’s under review. An answer could come later this week. The Kansas Department of Agriculture has closed its case. Goodman said the department isn’t taking further 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 the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, the Emporia Police Department, Lyon County Health Department, the Kansas Department of Agriculture and other agencies came out to inspect the damage.
The homeowners have denied any wrongdoing and said they were trying to kill the weeds in their lawn. Cathy Coop, the owner, said she and her husband John Roberts 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 onto Hayes’ tomato plants.
The report stated 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 states 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.
Coop said Roberts did receive a letter of warning from the Kansas Department of Agriculture about the use 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 of 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.”
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Posted by rdgrey (anonymous) on August 12, 2008 at 5:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I took the time out of curiousity to look at the yard in question. Ya he isnt the best yard keeper on the block, but then again niether am I. I expected to see a war zone of dead plants througout the neighborhood. I can see the gardens and plants on either side of his yard look fine. Maybe those should be tested for residue to tell if what Coop uses on his yard is affecting his nieghbors. Maybe his nieghbors should make a deal with Coop that if he doesnt care to make his yard "pretty" then the nieghborhood can pitch in and care for his yard for him.
Posted by LifeGoesOn (anonymous) on August 13, 2008 at 7:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I'm not sure where the gazette got it's "report" but I do know that the dept of Ag does not issue a "warning letter" to someone when there is no wrong doing. I also Know that 2,4-D is a broadleaf weed killer NOT a grass killer, so what Was used on roberts lawn? Still have many questions....
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