Herbicide mishap kills grass in Addison parks

The Addison Park District will reseed 98 acres, after a mishap with a weed control solution killed the grass in Community, Centennial and Old Mill parks.

Staff members typically use weed killer every year without any problems, officials said. But they noticed dead grass last Tuesday, stopped spraying the herbicide and contacted the vendor who sold this new formula to the park district.

Executive Director Mark McKinnon said the company, which has supplied the park district with weed killer and other products for many years, acknowledged mistakenly selling “the wrong application.” The solution the park district typically orders kills only weeds, but this time the solution was a mix of chemicals that killed both the weeds and large sections of grass.

“We are deeply concerned and don’t take this lightly, but the sales rep came forward and said they want to make this right,” McKinnon said.

He added that the problem will be covered by insurance for the vendor and park district. No taxpayer dollars will be used.

In addition, the parks will remain open while workers begin to reseed the areas that now have brown grass. McKinnon said he does not believe the herbicide poses any health or safety hazards to people, and no water runoff will cause damage to other lawns.

Outdoor programs will be unaffected, although it’s possible some activities or events eventually may be moved to new locations so the grass can grow.

The new grass is expected to sprout by the end of the summer or early fall, depending on weather conditions.