News

Actions

Residents don't want Mentor marsh sprayed with weed killer

Posted at 3:46 PM, Aug 15, 2016
and last updated 2016-08-15 16:13:04-04

The Cleveland Museum of Natural History manages the Mentor marsh—and it's filled with phragmites.

It's a tall invasive grass and museum officials said it chokes out the other plants that wildlife feed on.

Wildlife officials are using tractors and tanks to spray the marsh. 

Sometimes it's sprayed by a helicopter. and, the effects are obvious.

Looking out over the marsh you clearly see where the marsh grass was sprayed and where it hasn’t been sprayed yet.

Where it was spread is bare of any vegetation.

The herbicide glyphosate wipes out the phragmites and everything else until other plants grow back.

Some people who live around the marsh don't want any of the weed killer sprayed by helicopter and tractors, because they're not convinced the herbicide is safe for them and animals.

The weed killer contains chemicals similar to the household product Round Up.

A spokesperson for the city of Mentor said the chemical is safe. It's a watered down weed killer, and EPA approved.

Debra Pomfret whose backyard opens up to the Mentor marsh, wants the marsh left alone and let mother nature handle it.

"I can't imagine that a herbicide, like that, can be safe for any living creature in the marsh, and what happens to those creatures when the whole area is sprayed with that herbicide"

Plans to spray the marsh today were canceled due to rain.

Some farmers also use glyphosate.