Falmouth health board weighs further action on glyphosate

As a townwide moratorium on the use of glyphosate reaches its end, local activists are working with the town to come up with a long-term solution to curb the use of pesticides.

Laura Kelley, president of Protect Our Cape Cod Aquifer, on Monday presented the Board of Health with alternatives to glyphosate, a common herbicide found in products such as Roundup and Rodeo Aquatics. 

“Glyphosate is useful because it kills everything, and unfortunately it lives up to 20 years,” Kelley said. “It’s continuing harm. It’s doing more harm than we realize. I want to get off the dependency of this chemical. It’s going to take a little bit of muscle.”

The board voted in April to set a yearlong moratorium on the use of glyphosate on town-owned land. The moratorium is set to expire March 31.