I&M using lots of tree growth regulator

MUNCIE — Sara Mong, a retired garden center manager, returned to her Weber Drive home recently to find a door hanger from Indiana Michigan Power stating that tree growth regulator, a slightly toxic pesticide, would be applied to her property.

The notice provided a telephone number to call if she wished for an explanation of the work before it started. But when she called the number, more than once, it was disconnected.

"It's one thing for them to come and cut your trees, which has everybody up in arms," she said. "But just to come and put poison on your property, that's not right."

I&M spokesman Tracy Warner said the company has treated hundreds of thousands of trees with growth regulator, to slow the growth of trees, starting more than a decade ago. More than 22,000 trees will be treated this year.

" … Trees and power lines are a bad combination," Warner said. "Trees are the number one source of outages during weather events."

I&M's vegetation management expenses last year, including tree trimming/removal, herbicide applications and tree growth regulators, exceeded $27 million.

The tree growth regulator or retardant extends the length of time before a tree needs to be trimmed. "That lowers costs and reduces the occasions when we need to access a customer's property," Warner said.

Because a telephone line had been cut in the southern United States, the phone number for Mong to call — (866) 386-3256 — was out of service, but for less than 36 hours, Warner said. An I&M contractor that applies the product has since called Mong and informed her that the material won't be injected into the soil around any trees in her yard.

I&M always notifies customers in advance and provides the number to call if they don't want the product to be used, Warner said.

Mong was concerned that the product, called ArborLock, might contaminate the fruit on the 35-year-old cherry tree in her back yard. Her front yard, over which towers an old maple tree, is a garden, not lawn, containing perennial flowers, vegetables, shrubs, thousands of bulbs, garden ornaments and bird/squirrel feeders. That raises a question about what impact ArborLock could have on the garden. As for any impact on Mong herself, she already has survived two types of cancer and doesn't want to invite more.

Paclobutrazol, the active ingredient in ArborLock, is categorized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as an "unclassifiable" carcinogen, meaning there is no evidence it causes cancer, Warner said. Other carcinogen categories include "known," "probable," "possible" and "not likely."

Ed White, pesticide products manager at the Office of Indiana State Chemist, isn't qualified to say whether paclobutrazol causes cancer, but he did tell The Star Press it is a "general-use" pesticide, not a "restricted use" pesticide. That means you don't have to be certified by his office to apply it unless you're doing so for hire on another person's property.

White also said the EPA's signal word for ArborLock labeling is "Caution," meaning the product is slightly toxic — it can cause slight eye or skin irritation and is slightly toxic if inhaled, eaten, or absorbed through the skin. The other pesticide label signal words are "Danger," meaning highly toxic, and "Warning," meaning moderately toxic.

"Pesticide has become a bad word," White said. EPA regulates pesticide use based on risks and benefits. "Without pesticides, you couldn't put bait out for mice," White said, for example. Another example: Hospitals use antimicrobial pesticides.

Trees treated with ArborLock typically have a richer, green color, but it can affect surrounding vegetation if the roots come in contact with the injected paclobutrazol, according to the product's distributor. Plant growth on surrounding vegetation can be slowed also.

Contact Seth Slabaugh at (765) 213-5834.