On March 18, my wife and I decided to embrace nature at the Morton National Wildlife Refuge in Noyac. We walked the path to Jessup Point, just over a mile from the parking lot, where we enjoyed the beautiful views of the bay.
After some 30 minutes, we heard a roaring sound that could have been an airplane or motorboat — except it wasn’t going away.
We walked back to the parking lot as the roar got increasingly louder. Then it became clear: It was two leaf blowers at a house adjacent to the sanctuary.
It’s awful that the blowers can be heard a mile away. Noise pollution is rampant. The next morning, landscapers blasted us awake at 7:30 a.m. cleaning a property across the road, and blowers are heard from blocks away.
There have been proposed ordinances to ban gas-powered leaf blowers and replace them with the more quiet battery models. Landscapers oppose such a change, including a Southampton Town councilwoman, who makes unsubstantiated claims against the battery blowers, and won’t recuse herself, even though she owns a landscaping business. Apparently she’s more vested in her business than the health of her constituents. Also, with the price of gasoline today, battery blowers make more “cents.”
Noise pollution, like air and water pollution, is toxic to our health. Oftentimes, I notice some workers are not wearing ear protection and risk hearing loss and/or auditory nerve damage. Again, the bottom line.
It’s a sad day and time when one can’t enjoy the beauty of a wildlife sanctuary and can’t hear a conversation at home because of a noise pollution invasion. Landscapers have had it on their terms for too long. It is now time to find a solution to the satisfaction of all.
It doesn’t have to be leaf blowers vs. nature.
John Tusa
Hampton Bays
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