Watch Out For Killer Compost

Image Gallery Choose your straw, manure or compost carefully: It could contain toxic levels of a potent herbicide. ISTOCKPHOTO/JOHN FULLER

Gardeners beware — straw, manure and maybe even compost can kill your garden, thanks to the folks at the Dow chemical company. An herbicide called aminopyralid, released by DowAgroscience in 2005 and aggressively marketed to horse and cattle owners to control perennial weeds, has been associated with the loss of thousands of home gardens in Great Britain this year. So can it happen here? You bet! Previously treated straw and even well-rotted manure may carry enough persistent plant killer to kill tomatoes, lettuce, beans and other sensitive crops.

Dow’s Clouded History

This is the second time that Dow herbicides that were supposed to degrade within days were found to persist for years. In 2001, Dow’s clopyralid (still sold as Confront), was found to be the contaminant in compost that killed home garden and nursery plants in Washington, Pennsylvania and New Zealand. Aminopyralid, the active ingredient in common herbicides Milestone and Forefront, belongs to the same class of chemicals that includes clopyralid.

Dow’s behavior defies environmental corporate responsibility. They know their product is capable of causing significant environmental harm, yet they continue not only to sell it, but develop and sell new products that pose equal or greater risks. And shame on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for letting this happen again!