FERTILIZER CONCERNS

Fertilizers themselves aren't necessarily dangerous, but there are ingredients in fertilizers that can harmful if the product has a large quantity of it. One of the ingredients which can be harmful is ammonia. Ammonia can harm the human or animal body. Ammonia from a fertilizer can get into our bodies when a person puts a liquid fertilizer on the ground and the ammonia runs into our watershed.

Even though it may take a while for the ammonia to get to a local waterway, the cumulative or long term effects of this chemical can come back to haunt us in the future. If we get our water from wells that are in the ground, then when we drink our water it might have ammonia in it.

One way to prevent ammonia from contaminating our water is to use more of solid fertilizers.

Nitrogen from fertilizers can also cause major problems. Nitrogen causes rapid increased plant growth. If this happens, algae can grow at an alarming rate. The algae then dies and the plants begin to rot. The decomposition by bacteria uses up great quantities of dissolved oxygen. This in turn can cause animal life to die.

Fertilizers are one of the many contributors that can make "scum" and other bad results appear. You can see scum above in this picture of the Pleasant Spring Creek. Not only can water with scum be harmful to people, but it can be harmful to animals. Only testing the water and the things that will determine the affect of the fertilizer on the stream.

Above you can see a picture of Lake Galena with a farm at the top of the hill. It is easy to see the direct connection between the farm and possible run off problems. Even if you cannot see the farm from the waterway it can still cause problems. Residential lawns and city parks can also contribute to the problem if these chemicals are used. It could get into our drinking water and affect life in the ponds and streams.

Fertilizers can be beneficial in the growth of plants, but they also can be harmful. Reducing or eliminating ammonia filled fertilizers is a goal for improving overall water quality in our region.

An example of a local problem is illustrated by poor quality water nearby. Swimming recently had to be discontinued at the Green Lane Reservoir in Montgomery County. One of the major contributing factors to poor water quality is agricultural runoff.