Huntington Beach expands testing area for organic pesticides in Central Park

Huntington Beach will include the entire west side of Central Park in its organic-chemical pilot study with a new approach aimed at eliminating potentially harmful synthetic pesticides and other chemicals in the city.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to expand the testing area and adopt the Irvine Unified School District’s organic turf management practices for 12 months. It’s expected to cost about $53,000.

Maintenance operations manager Denny Bacon described Huntington’s ways of maintaining turf as “old school” and said implementing Irvine Unified’s practices would be less costly while requiring the city to step up its management.

Studies by Irvine Unified indicate that methods such as topdressing help “choke out” weeds and broadleaf and help soil retain moisture longer. Huntington Beach doesn’t use those practices, Bacon said.

The district’s program helped eliminate the use of synthetic chemicals on its fields and led to improved turf health and more effective weed control, according to a city staff report.

After the 12-month test period, Bacon said, staff will return with recommendations on how to take the program citywide.

Councilman Billy O’Connell’s original proposal for a pilot study in 2017 asked that the city test organic pesticides in part of the western section of Central Park and investigate which ones would best replace Monsanto’s Roundup. Critics have called the weed killer’s main ingredient, glyphosate, a possible cancer threat, though the company maintains it poses no risk to people.

Bacon said Monday that the city still plans to get rid of Roundup. “With organic turf management, we’re spending good money to get rid of weeds and gain better turf,” he said.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

Twitter: @vegapriscella