How truly disappointing to read about Lower Merion Township’s gas leaf blower ordinance through the narrow lens of enforcement “stress.” The article reads like a script from the fossil fuel industry, to share as “news” that it just might be too costly to shield people from hearing impairment and carcinogens, the indisputable and long-proven dangers of gas-powered leaf blowers.

Lower Merion made enforcement cumbersome, and it must not now be weaponized to discourage protecting people from harm, which is the very point of gas blower ordinances nationwide.

My town, Montclair, N.J., is one of them. We have prohibited gas leaf blowers here year-round since 2023. Residents and workers, including municipal staff, are safer and healthier because of our ordinance.

Lower Merion’s officials should revisit its enforcement policy. If it’s the “burden,” “stress,” and “strain” they describe, they surely need to streamline their process. Would they talk like this about a new speed limit in a school zone?

Bottom line: For a machine this dangerous, protecting public health is worth it.

Anna Grossman, Montclair, N.J.