By Thane Grauel
WESTPORT — With all the charm of air raid sirens, the high-decibel din of gas-powered leaf blowers — the traditional cacophony of autumn — has now spread to other seasons as well.
Blowers are fired up to blast just about everything now all year round — grass clippings in summer, litter and dirt from driveways, and even snow from sidewalks and porches in winter months.
Westport’s lawmakers are now talking about whether something should be done about all the noise, and pollution.
A joint meeting of the Public Works, Environment, and Parks and Recreation Committees of the Representative Town Meeting met virtually Tuesday evening to discuss a proposed ordinance that would restrict when gas-powered blowers could be used.
The town might join the list of about 200 communities nationwide that regulate when and what equipment homeowners and landscapers can deploy in their quest for pristine properties.
Restrictions on Use
The measure as it stands now would allow the use of gas-powered blowers for two six-week periods annually — Nov. 1 to Dec. 15, and March 15 to April 30. All other weeks of the year they’d be prohibited.
Electric and battery-powered blowers, which are not as noisy and are far less polluting, would be allowed year-round. There would be exceptions for golf courses and public works, and during a state of emergency.
Gas-powered blowers would be restricted to one unit on properties smaller than an acre, two on parcels between one and two acres, and three on three-acre parcels.
Police would handle enforcement with violations or warnings.
There was no debate or vote on the proposal, just presentations and a question-and-answer period so the lawmakers would be better informed for future meetings when public input and debate will take place.
“I think most of (us) here this evening would (say) that gas-powered leaf blowers are an incredible nuisance,” said Kristin Schneeman, RTM District 9, one of the sponsors of the ordinance, along with Jessice Bram, RTM-6, and Andrew Colabella, RTM-9.
“I’ve worked from home for 10 years and I can attest anecdotally that they’ve gotten louder, there are more of them going at once, and they go on continually all hours of the day and more months of the year,” she said.
Quiet Communities
Jamie Banks, president of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit Quiet Communities, Inc., gave a presentation to committee members that included a slideshow demonstrating how much more leaf blowers pollute compared to engines that have emissions controls.
“This is a problem all across the country,” Banks said.
“Gas-powered leaf blowers are a major source of toxic pollutants,” she said. “Those pollutants include hydrocarbons, primarily benzene, butadiene and formaldehyde. These are among the four top air pollutant carcinogens.”
She said the machines also produce nitrogen oxides, which have an adverse impact on the environment with things like acid rain.
These machines, which generally use small two-stroke engines, are usually run with a gasoline and oil mixture, with as much as 30 percent of the fuel escaping into the atmosphere unburned.
Fine-particulate pollution, she said, a carcinogen, is the result.
Big Polluters
“Most fine-particulate pollution comes from small, handheld tools,” Banks said. “Leaf blowers, string trimmers, hedge trimmers, and saws.”
These microscopic particles are inhaled, and can enter the bloodstream, causing an array of health issues.
One slide that Banks showed stated if you operate a two-stroke gas-powered blower for 30 minutes it produces as much hydrocarbon emissions as driving a Ford Raptor pickup 3,900 miles — “Texas to Alaska,” she said.
Bram, who chairs the RTM’s Health and Human Services subcommittee, said many constituents have reached out to her with concerns regarding the blowers.
“We have been really inundated with emails from constituents that are passionate, that are articulate, that are very well educated,” she said, calling the letters persuasive.
“I think we’re here to represent not the developers, we’re not here to represent the gardeners, the landscapers,” she said. “We’re here to represent our residents who have been talking about the quality of life having been seriously deteriorated from the noise.”
The Price of Jobs
Matthew Mandell, RTM District 1, raised questions.
“There seems to be a dichotomy here between the public doing things themselves and having services come in for them,” he said, asking if the ordinance could only address the contractors.
Schneeman said that had been looked at in other communities, but having different rules for different parties invited legal challenges.
Mandell said it was likely one guy on a lawn maintenance crew would no longer be working four months a year under the proposed ordinance.
“How are we going to address the issue that some people are going to lose their jobs?” he said.
A representative wants to know, “How are we going to address the issue that some people are going to lose their jobs?” I want to know how the RTM is going to address the issue that residents, town employees, and landscape workers are losing their hearing and breathing in toxic material that can instigate fatal diseases?
While I agree that noise from blowers is a problem, there is a balance between that and the hardship facing the landscapers who care for our residential properties in Westport. I believe a limitation on times blowers can be used, and a study and possible grants for replacement equipment would be more appropriate.
Altogether banning or severely limiting the use would be too drastic. There needs to be a transition to the solution.
How are the landscapers protecting their employees from irreversible damage and life threatening toxicity/
I am confused about the application of the revised rules. (1) If the dangers of noise pollution exist 24 hours per day, why would golf courses be allowed to engage in such pollution prior to 9 a.m.? And (2) I would have expected our local government to provide leadership by engaging within the rules of the community rather than granting itself an exception. The revised plan is to exempt government from the rules by allowing them the use of GLBs to clear streets when necessary. Why would government not step up, display leadership, and purchase the suggested electric-powered devices to comply with the rules?