By Greg Ellison

(Nov. 4, 2021) In addition to considering water test results at the North and South Gate ponds, the Ocean Pines Environmental and Natural Assets Committee last Wednesday also examined the viability of planting geese-deterring grass seed.

Committee Chairman Ken Wolf said results are still forthcoming from the f bacteria tests taken late last month at Pines ponds.

General Manager John Viola said lab results could take at least three weeks.

“Some of these tests do take a while,” he said.

Providing technical perspective during the meeting on bacteria testing and efforts to deter resident geese from congregating next to ponds was Worcester Department of Environmental Programs Director Bob Mitchell.

Mitchell said the state employs DNA tests for water quality characterizations in certain watersheds.

“It’s a qualitative test not a quantitative,” he said. “Meaning you’re looking for certain items and precursors for bacteria.”

By contrast, Mitchell said quantitative tests would reveal variable bacterial levels.

“We do the beach monitoring and we can close the beachheads,” he said. “Bathing beaches that you can reach by public transport and by foot or bike.” Mitchell said beach water tests are triple-sampled and lab-analyzed.

“We don’t do instantaneous testing on test tubes,” he said. “These are cultured samples that are done.”

Pines ponds differ from beaches, Mitchell said.

“These are not watersheds or water bodies,” he said. “They receive stormwater and they’re not designed to … swim and recreate in.”

Mitchell said continued water testing for ponds is costly and unlikely to reveal new data.

“It’s going to tell you what you already know,” he said. “You know you have geese.”

Mitchell also said he doubted that discharge from the Ocean Pines Wastewater Treatment Plant has contributed to bacteria levels in the ponds.

County officials and public works crews examined gravity and force mains to confirm neither were potential contributors, Mitchell said.

“Both force mains that come by the North Pond are brand new infrastructure that’s been tested,” he said. “The likelihood that’s failing is pretty low.”

Mitchell said if a leak did occur the results would be evident.

“It would be a huge amount of matter into the pond,” he said. “Your nose would know it and driving by you would see it visually.”

In lieu of further testing, Mitchell recommended focusing reducing geese populations.

“You know what your sources are,” he said. “If you can control your sources, you can control their inputs to your … ponds.”

Mitchell said numerous towns and municipalities have kept geese from flocking by water in residential areas by allowing natural vegetation to grow.

“It provides cover for predators,” he said.

Wolf, who has previously espoused the same approach, concurred that overgrowth around water areas prevents geese from grazing.

“The state … they tell you that’s the golden bullet, that’s what you should be doing,” he said.

The committee also conferred with Viola about turf grass formulated for wildlife deterrence at the North Gate Pond.

Wolf said now former board liaison Tom Janasek proposed installing a test area of “FlightTurf,” during the director’s meeting last month.

FlightTurf, which was developed roughly a decade back, is distasteful to fowl and costs about $2,600 per acre without installation.

Viola said the plan sounded viable initially.

“It sounds good when you talk about a test area,” he said.

Viola said Golf Superintendent Justin Hartshorne and Public Works Director Eddie Wells did research.

Hartshorne said site preparation requires removing any present plants.

“They recommend spraying the area with a roundup product so you kill everything,” he said.

Seeding and fertilizing would follow, with total costs estimated between $6,000-$10,000 per acre.

Further, Hartshorne said doing a small test section would accomplish little.

“A test plot is good, but the geese are going to move right outside of that and feed,” he said. “They’re still going to be in that localized area.”

Wells said the unsavory seed would deter feeding and nesting but would not repel the birds.

“They will still land in it and they’ll walk through it to get to the fresh water pond,” he said. “You’re still going to get droppings, but they won’t stay there as long because they’re not feeding.”

Viola said planting seed on roughly four acres surrounding the North Gate ponds could cost between $45,000-$60,000, while covering the nearly seven acres around the South Gate Pond could run over $100,000.

Viola said FlightTurf has worked at a number of airports, but the success might not translate to the Pines.

“That’s a big area when you do an airport,” he said. “If we just do a small area they’re going to sit outside that small area.”

Hartshorne said early autumn is the best time to seed the ground.

“We can revisit this next year,” he said.

Wolf agreed, while noting the goal is to find a reasonable way to get the geese to relocate.

“We’d like to treat the geese humanely and have them go someplace else they’re going to be happy,” he said.