Environmental & Turf Services Celebrates 15th Anniversary

Over 15 years ago, Dr. Stuart Cohen burst on the scene in the golf industry, unveiling precedent-setting research proving that the industry was not the pariah many environmental activists had declared.

The ground-water team leader in charge of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) historic Cape Cod Study, which assessed impacts of golf-course maintenance in worst-case scenarios, Cohen revealed findings that came at a crucial time. Certain activists had the golf industry on their hit list, and the industry had little scientific evidence defending its impact on the environment, wildlife habitat, or waterways.

But, through extensive and extraordinary well-digging and water-testing, the EPA study showed that even on sandy Cape Cod, golf courses and the chemicals correctly applied on them did not cause significant impact on water supplies.

Cohen holds a PhD in chemistry earned in 1984 from George Washington University in Washington, D.C., performing his doctoral research at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda. He has continued to debunk activists’ arguments – in courtrooms and planning board meetings around the country – since creating his own company, Environmental & Turf Services, Inc. (ETS), on Jan. 1, 1991. The Wheaton, Md., firm is celebrating its 15th anniversary at the turn of the year.

Today, ETS’s team of scientists includes Senior Agronomist Gregg Rosenthal, CGCS, Senior Hydrogeologist and Professional Geologist LaJan Barnes, Environmental Hydrologist Dr. Qingli Ma, Environmental Scientist Stephen Reid and others. They stand at the top of the field in water-quality monitoring and impact assessments for turfgrass, lawn care and agriculture as well as risk assessment, risk management, agronomic support for proposed and existing golf courses, and environmental and occupational assessments for firing ranges and gun clubs.

ETS scientists have published and presented their work in scientific publications and at society meetings – most recently when Cohen presented a paper on amphibian decline during the annual conference of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Just as Cohen was at the forefront studying the effects of golf courses on the environment in the late 1980s, he and his colleagues have tackled the problem of a worldwide decline of amphibians. They have written guidelines for housing and golf course developers – who often work around wetlands – to follow in order to protect amphibians and amphibian-habitat areas.

ETS has worked on 133 turf-related projects over the 15 years, and has consulted on golf development projects across the continental United States and Hawaii, giving expert opinion on wetlands, ground-water and surface-water contamination and environmental risks in general and drafting Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs for many properties.

The United States Golf Association and the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America both have presented research grants to ETS in the areas of water-quality monitoring, computer-simulation modeling of turfgrass pesticides in runoff and leachate, and risk assessment.

Cohen has lectured across North America and in England, Brazil, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Austria, France and Thailand. He has also been called to present public testimony before Congress three times.

ETS’s work at firing ranges and gun clubs began in 1991 and has spanned seven states from coast to coast. It also performs risk assessment and risk management for the lead in arsenic from bullets and shot lying on the ground. This work has led to a book written for shooting ranges, entitled “EPA and OSHA Compliance Guide for Shooting Ranges,” available on the Internet at the www.environmentalandturf.com.

From the East Coast to California and Hawaii, Cohen and his team have worked with many golf courses and other projects to develop plans to maintain the environmental integrity of scores of sites. Several ETS clients have earned national recognition for environmental stewardship, including: Pebble Beach Golf Links and the Links at Spanish Bay in California; Giants Ridge Golf and Ski Resort in Minnesota; Blue Heron Pines in New Jersey; and Nantucket Golf Club in Massachusetts.