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ZAP Studies:
1. Public Opinion Survey99
2. Observation of Yard Maintenance
Workers Regarding Safety Instructions.
3. Video and Video Written Transcript
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SOURCE
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COMPLAINT or COMPARISON |
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Shiela Kuehl, CA State Assemblymember
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(At the time this site was set up, Member
of CA State Senate) 65 decibels compares to “a Mack Truck”,
on residential streets.
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L.A. City Councilmember
Laura Chick
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Letter of January 27, 1998:
“I agree with the majority of the City Council and the vast majority
of those who contacted me on this issue, that gas-powered blowers
create an environmental annoyance and health problems that must be
stopped.. . . .I felt that leaf blowers are not the only tool that
can be used to keep our properties swept and attractive. They
generate health problems from the dust they stir up and create such
a loud noise that the quality of residential life is disrupted too
often.”
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Regarding blowers:
Roger B. Swain, Ph.D.
Editor, Horticulture magazine
Host, PBS Victory Garden
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“In the country, houses are separated
by quarter of a mile. In the East, leaves fall mainly in Fall.
In the West, they are a problem all year long.”
“If someone says that he has become used to a loud noise, it
is because he can no longer hear it. . . .If I have to raise my voice
to talk to someone 3 feet away, then the noise of the machine is loud
enough to be hurting my hearing.”
“Secondhand
noise is every bit as irritating as the secondhand smoke from cigarettes”
“Noise is an emission, too.”
AMISH saying, “We are Quiet on the Land.”
Author came home for a quick lunch, only to face blowers |
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Regarding Good Gardening Practices:
The Practical Gardener, Roger
B. Swain
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Page 122: TREES: “prevent
grass from growing [up to tree trunks] . . .trees and sod are incompatible
. . . .Sooner or later, whoever is cutting the grass will bang into
the trunk and injure the tree. . .you don’t even have to leave
a mark . .[A] power mower against the bark can bruise the tender
cambium layer under the bark. ‘
and,
Amongst other suggestions, Swain recommends, “ rendering the
adjacent soil inhospitable. This is most easily done with a
good layer of mulch, a layer that will at the same time provide attendant
benefits to whatever plants are growing in its midst.
Pages 86-87: LEAVES: “Dead leaves are an inexpensive
mulch. . . . Raking leaves into a shrub border or simply letting
the wind take care of this is also an excellent way to mulch, provided
the leaves are not so deep that they smother the roots.”
“Pine Needles . . .make a very attractive mulch.”
GRASS: “I believe that grass clippings should be left on
the lawn, where they will dramatically reduce the need for fertilizer.
If you use them as mulch, don’t put them on so thick and so fresh
that they make an impermeable layer.”
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96.7.1,
L.A. Times, Rip Rense
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What’s It Take to Get a Little
Peace and Quiet Around Here?
“The leaf blower
is the stupidest invention in human history. . . .would an intelligent
being dream up a machine that roars like an old Flash Gordon serial
rocket, creates more pollution than a Peterbilt, and scares the daylights
out of cats? All to perform a task that rakes used to accomplish
in – I’m convinced – the same amount of time?”
“. . .ferociously whooshing debris into ivy, bushes
and gutters across the nation. It’s the gardening equivalent
of [sweeping] dust under rugs. With a bulldozer. . . .blasting
those nasty, elusive, vicious leaves willy-nilly with his grand, howling
machine.”
“Not quite as loud as a cheering
football stadium”
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97.7.9
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L.A. Times Letters, July, 1997
“. . .How about if I bring a leaf blower downtown and fire it
up outside your office when you’re on the phone interviewing
a source or trying to complete a column on deadline? I work
at home, I don’t live on the Westside . . .I make less money
than you or the gardeners. . .But I do find the din of leaf blowers
intolerable. I live close to my neighbors . . .I have to tell
whomever I’m talking to on the phone that I’ll have to call
them back. I can’t write. I can’t read.
The real problem here is people who plant lawns and nonnative plants,
then pour on water they require to survive in the semiarid environment.
And people who allow no bush to go untrimmed, insist no leaf be allowed
to litter the ground, and equate happiness with a well-manicured lawn
and “clean walkways.” Blake Gumprecht, L.A., CA
“We pay for street cleaning, and then the gardeners
come along and blow the streets dirty again. . . .The gardeners can
litter our streets and get paid for it!” Terry Brannon,
L.A. CA
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97.7.12
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“. . .Sound-level tests produced
for the Los Angeles City Council proved that a leaf blower running
at operational levels is much louder than an operating lawn mower.
. . .Another serious problem is that they do not just blow leaves,
but also blow up swirling clouds of toxic particles consisting of
dried herbicides and pesticides, tiny bits of dried animal urine and
feces, bacteria and viruses, cement, oil, unburned gasoline, automobile
brake dust, and a host of other pollutants that end up in your lungs
and sinuses.” Stephen C. Brecht, Woodland Hills, CA.
“For years I have had to endure the ear-splitting
noise caused by gasoline-operated gas blowers. Finally, since
the long-awaited ban, I have been able to sit out on my patio and
actually hear the birds or listen to my radio.” Lynn Clayton,
Sherman Oaks, CA
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97.11.6
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The Willow Glen Resident Letters, November
5, 1997:
“Only today, starting at 7:15 a.m., I have
had to put up with lawn trimmers, followed by lawn mowers, followed
by leaf-blowers. Then they started trimming the trees with chainsaws,
again followed by leaf-blowers. Finally, they finished by trimming
the hedges and ground covering, again followed by leaf-blowers. .
. .I eventually left my house and took my work to a coffee shop. .
.only to be subjected to another leaf-blower in the supermarket parking
lot.. . .I even witnessed one workman use a blower to blow a single
leaf from one side of the road to the other.” Steve Trigwell,
Sunnyvale, CA
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97.11.8
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L.A. Times Letters: November 11, 1997:
“. . .there are already regulations regarding hours and
noise levels (65 decibels) for gas blowers that have been in effect
for years. Yet the city fails to implement them and gardeners
fail to abide by them. So why are the gardeners now asking for
regulations we already have? It’s their own fault that
a ban was passed as a law. People are fed up with listening
to those horrendous, polluting noise machines. . . .My gardener converted
[to electric] and he still gets the job done.” Gregory V. Gibbs,
L.A., CA.
“Contrary to your statement that the
ordinance has been ‘delayed from taking effect until next January,’
the ordinance is in effect and has been since July 1 [1997].
On Jan.1 the city will begin issuing citations for violations of the
law.” Cindy Miscikowski, Councilmember, L.A., CA.
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98.1.12
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New York Times: January 11, 1998:
“The drama in Los Angeles is mirrored in suburban areas
around the country, where noise pollution is becoming a major quality-of-life
issue. The battle is reaching a critical point because small
gas-powered devices have grown wildly in popularity at a time when
more people are either working at home or zealously guarding the quality
of the little leisure time they have at the end of a hectic work week.”
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98.1.16
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New York Times Letters, January 9, 1998:
“Until 10 years ago gardeners never used leaf blowers and
consequently did not feel deprived of a “vital tool” for
earning a living. Now the manufacturers of these noise, air-polluting
machines have found a wedge that gives gardeners an issue to rally
around and a voice for the first time.” Donna Perlmutter, L.A.
CA
“It seems that by tending “upward of a
dozen yards a day,” even for “as little as $70 a month”
from each homeowner (Los Angeles Journal, Jan.7), gardeners could
clear 60 yards in a five-day workweek and earn a monthly income of
up to $4,200. . . .shouldn’t mass demonstrations and hunger strikes
be reserved for the plights of workers who are somewhat less well
off?” Daniel E. Johnson, Brookline, MA.
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98.2.10
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“How can noisy
machines help clean the world when noise itself is a form of filth?”
and
“Air over which sound travels is a common property of everybody,
and nobody has any more right to inflict noise than they have to
inflict smoke or any other kind of damage” Ashleigh Brilliant,
BLAST, Santa Barbara. |
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98.2.10
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“Noise polluters
are like bullies in a schoolyard. They are basically saying,
‘I don’t care about you and the effect my noise has on
you.’ It’s a power issue.” and
“Anti-noise crusaders contend that, of all the kinds of pollution
in this frenetic world, noise may be the most insidious.”
Les Blomberg, Coordinator of the Noise
Pollution Clearing House, Montpelier, Vt.
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I’m mad as hell and I’m not
going to take it anymore.
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98.5.1
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“In our condominium complex
the noise echoing around the buildings is a serious problem for
those of us who work at night or at home. Some hours it is
impossible to enjoy the grounds or relax on our decks because of
the extent tht blowers are employed in the immediate vicinity.
. . .[Also] faced by many Menlo park residents living in relatively
close quarters.”
[Regarding the Menlo Park City Council meeting], “. . .the
majority of speakers and attendees were not residents. . . .Isn’t
it ironic that blowers are banned in Lake Zurich, Illinois, where
blowers are assembled . . .and are not used in Japan where design
and parts are made because, according to the Japanese Consulate,
they are ‘distressful’?!”
Robert L. Blum, M.D., Emergency room night shift.
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98.11.1
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Metro Active News, November 12-18, 1998
“To win against the proposed ban [in Menlo Park], the opposition
needs to change the subject, because there’s nothing they can
say to defend the blower itself.” Cheryl Zaslawski
“How does eliminating a labor-saving device result
in the loss of jobs?” Julie Kelts, Citizens for a Quieter
Sacramento.
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99.10.1
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“Three, four, fives days a
week, we always have a leaf blower going full blast.”
Gerald A. Silver, president of the Homeowners of Encino.
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99.10.1
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Laguna Beach 1993 law bans all blowers.
Reporter Seema Mehta credits Mr. Frank with the explanation, “.
. .because they still spread harmful dust that can include fecal
matter, pesticides, chemicals, fungi and street dirt that can contain
lead and carbon.” Workers can use “the so-called
clean machine, a gas powered vacuum.”
Kenneth C. Frank, City manager of Laguna Beach, CA
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99.10.2
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“As the blowers became pervasive,
the complaints mounted – more than 5,000 in Los Angeles since
the ordinance was adopted.”
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99.10.2
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“That level [65dB] is two or
three times louder than most conversations, experts say.”
Decibel Chart:
Very Loud =60:very loud conversation, dishwasher; 65-75: Leaf blowers
[at 50 feet ANSI standards]. 70: busy traffic, vacuum cleaner.
80: alarm clock.
Extremely Loud = 90 lawnmower. 100: snowmobile, chainsaw [most
leaf blowers as measured closer than 50 feet].
(See the zapla Decibel Chart)
“Since January (ten months) Santa Monica received 1,700 complaints.”
[Note: People who actually phone in a complaint represent
multitudes more, who are too busy, too frustrated, or too timid
to call.]
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99.10.2
Joan Graves, Founder of Zero Air Pollution
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“. . .says neighborhood peer pressure
is the key to compliance.”
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01.7.1
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“Power tools are abused all the
time.”
Emile Bayle, Mayor, San Marino, CA
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01.7.2
Amanda Niskar, nurse-epidemiologist, Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention.
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Noise “is an environmental and
community problem for children.”
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Orange
County [CA] Grand Jury Report
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Decibel levels of 65dB – 75dB may
be 90dB – 95dB at operator's ear. Air velocity at nozzle
ranges from 180 mph up to 250 mph.
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