LETTER: Weedkiller no threat to humans, animals in Summerlin
It’s fine if the people of Summerlin wish to ban Roundup and other glyphosates from their area, as long as they pay for it (July 28 Review-Journal). I suspect it would cost at least three times or more the amount it does now to hire enough people to pluck weeds from their streetscapes and public areas. If they pay $250 a month in association fees they can up that to $750.
As for parks, unless they are maintained by their homeowners associations, I would find it a gross injustice to pay so much more to eliminate weeds just to accommodate some paranoid people.
For the record, glyphosates simply use a glycerin base to make phosphorus stick to a plant. Phosphates are essential for plant growth. What Roundup and other herbicides do is over-fertilize a plant until it dies. The amount of phosphorus used is not harmful to animals or humans. It cannot be sprayed in windy conditions because it can harm landscape plants.
The cost of outlawing this harmless herbicide would be huge. Do we want parks and other areas to become weed-choked? Let them ban it where they pay for it. Leave the rest of us alone.