Atrazine kill Rye and Bahia?

central floridave – posted 13 December 2002 09:46

I came home today and found a chemical company accidently threw down atrazine on my yard. They were suppose to do my neighbors and not mine. I’m pretty mad about it as I read that atrazine kills bahia and Rye. My yard is Bahia and I overseeded with rye, which looks great now. Will their mistake ruin my yard and does anyone know what I can do if my grass does indeed die from the companies mistake? Thanks.

seed – posted 13 December 2002 14:06

Dear central floridave,

You read right. It is possible, but not certain, that one application of atrazine will mess up the bahia real bad, but not totally kill it. The ryegrass has worse prospects, but may be much less expensive to replace.

At this point you should document what has occurred based on photographs, conversation notes, and any other forms of documentation such as the invoice or any other paperwork that went with the misapplication. Include the names of people who have talked to you, and details, details, details. Whether you need to use that information or not can be decided later.

If the company promises any remedy, you need to be very careful under what conditions you ever let them back on your property, and what if anything you agree to. You do not want to put yourself in a position of losing any legal rights by saying, “Sure, go ahead and do this or that to my lawn,” because they might make the situation worse, or cloud the responsibility. The full scope of the damage may also not be apparent until next spring.

You may have several legal remedies available as well as administrative processes that may also be effective in making your lawn whole, should you find in a few weeks that it is destroyed. This could be a sticky situation. For example, if the chemical company was working for your neighbor, and depending on what kind of relationship they had, your neighbor may be responsible. These are points you can over with your attorney.

In the ideal world, the chemical company will admit responsibility, and make your lawn whole should there be any damage.

In the real world, they may promise to be responsible, never put it in writing, then after months of promises, stop returning your phone calls, and if you take them to task, try to make it look like it was your fault.

As far as administrative process, in lieu of or in addition to legal process, a company spraying chemicals on lawns falls within certain occupational licensing, pesticide use certification, and you can contact county and state agencies to find out what their responsibilities are. The state may or may not help your lawn in a case of alleged herbicide damage, however, they can sure use that information in dealing with the company that did it, if you can properly document what has occurred. Some counties also have strong consumer affairs divisions, and if you can get them to work on the case, they do a lot of the leg work for you.

I am not advocating using heavy artillery. In an ideal world, you can resolve this with a handshake, but just have the heavy artillery to back you up. A company that can make a mistake like this may not be one to take any assurance from, unless they can be backed up.

Phil

central floridave – posted 16 December 2002 17:32

Thanks.

I was reading on UF website to not apply atrazine under the drip line of ornamentals and palms.

Oops! I’m a rare fruit and palm collector. I have over 30 fruit trees, some bearing and alot of rare ornamental palms. I’m going to be devastated if any damage to any of my plants. Luckily the same day we got about 2 inches of rain so hopefully it washed it away. The company, TruGreen is mailing me a written statement claiming that the chemicals won’t go into my shallow well that I drink out of…with filters of course…

So far the Rye grass has perked up. I fertilized it a week ago so it must be from that. Soon the death will follow. I hope not and I hope I am making this into something it is not.

Since the Bahia is dormant I’m thinking it won’t be affected. But, do I dare eat my carambolas and citrus that are ripe now?

My neighbor has sinced drop the company and said she will help me get my yard re-sodded with bahia if it dies.

What kind of lawyer would cover this if there is indeed damage? Small claims court? thanks.

frenchman – posted 16 December 2002 21:09

Also in your written statement about your well that they say something about being wrong for spraying your yard and that they are responsible for any damage. Don’t put this off. As soon as you get your written statement about the well and it doesn’t say anything about their mistake call them back and tell them you want a written statement about your yard and for them to be responsible if anything happens to your yard. Write down every time you call them and how long you talk to someone and get the person name everytime you call. You can have this as a back up. Good luck