with a buyers guide on the equipment.<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019m the first person to stand in line for any new piece of equipment that makes my life easier, more productive, less stressful on the body. However based on the state of this technology we are not there yet,\u201d Sprows said. \u201cProductivity of these blowers is approximately 17 minutes when it is wide open throttle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sprows said it would cost his company $14,000 per blower to replace what they have, and the weight of the electric blower is actually heavier than gas blowers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would go from 26 pounds to 36 pounds for the highest-power blower,\u201d Sprows said, adding that would take a toll on his body and could force him out of his job.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just urge you to vote against it,\u201d Sprows said.<\/p>\n
Landscaper Nick Lynn said he has to give officials some tough love.<\/p>\n
\u201cI used to live in the township. I\u2019m glad I got out,\u201d Lynn started. \u201cI\u2019m 99 percent wasting my breath here because everyone knows the government isn\u2019t here to help the working class, that\u2019s both sides, Democrats and Republicans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynn then pointed to research indicating the sound decibels emitted between gas and electric are similar.<\/p>\n
\u201cGas power is 112, electric is 94 DB\u2019s,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cThe emissions you are exporting to a third world for mining. It takes 2\u00bd to three years for the batteries to pay off, emissions-wise.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynn said with the duration of batteries, he would need eight to make it through one day and a $700 blower would turn into a $14,000 blower.<\/p>\n
He also pointed to batteries sitting in high heat through a hot summer day as a fire hazard.<\/p>\n
Lynn said the comparisons environmental organizations have made between the two machines uses consumer grade versus professional grade, and he recommended that if the township does move forward, any committee should include landscapers.<\/p>\n
Comments from the board<\/p>\n
Commissioner Michael McCollum said he would never vote for such an ordinance, and pointed to the major roads and traffic in the township, saying the ban would make no difference on air quality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m tired of this township trying to be like Lower Merion. We\u2019re Haverford Township,\u201d McCollum said.<\/p>\n
Board Vice President Kevin McCloskey said there is nothing on their schedule about restricting gas blowers.<\/p>\n
He did say the township volunteer environmental advisory committee held a presentation to the health board last month about ideas they have based on the Lower Merion measure.<\/p>\n
McCloskey said at some point the environmental advisory committee will make a presentation to the commissioners on their analysis but that hasn\u2019t happened yet. He acknowledged many township residents make their living landscaping but said he doesn\u2019t know enough about it to have a position.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Conor Quinn said he has three friends who are landscapers and they told him the proposal is a bad idea.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Laura Cavender said it took Lower Merion two years to come up with the ordinance. She agreed a landscaper needs to be on any committee on the plan.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Larry Holmes, who is known to take national issues and bring them to the local level, said banning two-cycle engines is not something that will be determined on the local level and he doesn\u2019t like what Lower Merion did.<\/p>\n
The Lower Merion ban<\/p>\n
In Lower Merion, gas-powered leaf blowers will be prohibited from Jan. 1 to April 1 and then again from June 1 to Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
By 2028, the gas-powered leaf blowers will be prohibited from Jan. 1 to Oct. 1.<\/p>\n
Beginning Jan. 1, 2029 and every year after that, gas-powered leaf blowers will be totally prohibited in Lower Merion.<\/p>\n
\u201cGas-powered leaf blowers create air pollution and noise pollution, contribute to climate change through the release of greenhouse gas emissions, and impair the health, social welfare, peace, and quality of life of persons residing and working in Lower Merion Township,\u201d according to one section of the new ordinance. \u201cThe practice of blowing leaves and other debris for property maintenance has unintended environmental and health consequences. The blowing of leaves, dust, and debris causes fine particulate emissions and disruption to pollinator habitats. Exposure to fine particulate matter may impact workers using this equipment, individuals with respiratory conditions, children, and other vulnerable populations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Media presently has a partial gas blower restriction, which passed in 2024. That ordinance restricts gas blower use on school mornings.<\/p>\n
Media said the goal is to improve the lives of all residents<\/a> by transitioning away from noisy and dirty gas leaf blowers and other lawn equipment that have two-cycle gasoline powered engines.<\/p>\nThe borough website states a pickup truck driving 1,100 miles emits the same amount of air pollution as a half-hour of yard work with a two-stroke, gas-powered leaf blower.<\/p>\n
Media points to noise created by gas blowers travels long distances. And, it\u2019s better to allow some leaves to remain where they fall, protecting some overwintering insects. Plus, returning mulched leaves to garden beds acts as fertilizer for plants and is a habitat for salamanders, snails and toads.<\/p>\n
Main Line Times reporter Richard Ilgenfritz contributed to this article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The idea of restricting gas leaf blowers is producing blowback in Haverford. At last week\u2019s commissioners meeting, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198408,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[212,48763,182,183,185,184,186,139,28,210],"class_list":["post-198407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lower-merion","tag-delaware-county","tag-haverford-township","tag-local-news","tag-lower-merion","tag-lower-merion-headlines","tag-lower-merion-news","tag-lower-merion-township","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-top-stories-dtd"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198407"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198407\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198408"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}