What can I do when fertilizer/pesticide is spread beyond the grass?
Minnesota law prohibits the application of any fertilizer to impervious (hard) surfaces such as streets, sidewalks, and driveways. Pesticide products (weed control) are applied with a fertilizer commonly found in lawn products (referred to as weed/feed products). Rain can wash the fertilizer/pesticide into nearby storm drains or road ditches, eventually getting into a lake or river near you. If you or someone else accidentally spills or spreads fertilizer/pesticide on a hard surface, simply clean it up immediately by sweeping the product back into the grass where it belongs. Otherwise, contact the property owner or the applicator (if known) and request that they do so themselves.
When is it too windy to spray?
Pesticide drift from the site of application into non-target areas is a violation of state law governing legal application of pesticides; however, there is no state law that dictates restrictions when the wind is blowing at specific wind speeds.
Most pesticides used do not have specific wind speed restrictions. The few that do have restrictions range between 5-15 mph for application.
In urban areas, wind speed is often 10 mph or less than what it is at a weather reporting station because of trees, homes and buildings. Based on experience, the MDA has found that complainants can have difficulty accurately judging problematic wind speeds and often overestimate the wind speed at the spray nozzle(s) height. The MDA uses its resources to determine if the application was made other than as specified by the manufacturer and/or whether it caused unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.
