Your children and pets may be safer on the banks of Albert Lea Lake this year.

Weerts Construction, the company that is laying sod around the lake, is using an organic fertilizer that is innocuous for humans, animals and bodies of water.

The fertilizer, produced by a company called Organic-Gro, is made from natural elements, according to Kristin Conroy, a spokeswoman for the product.

&uot;It’s a great product,&uot; said Bob Weerts, owner of Weerts Construction. &uot;There are no toxins.&uot;

According to Ron Schenk, a foreman for Weerts, the fertilizer can be touched by human skin and eaten by animals without causing negative reprecussions.

Public Works Director David Olson said, &uot;It’s not harmful for the lakes.&uot; Lakes are safe because the fertilizer is non-leaching, which means that it will not drain into bodies of water and affect fish or water plants.

Schenk said the construction company first used the product at Rebecca Kolls’ lawn in Hudson, Wis. Kolls is a gardener whose television show, Rebecca’s Garden, has been aired on television networks.

A Sorensen Bros. worker, who subcontracted for Weerts to lay the sod, said the expense of the organic fertilizer is the same as that of other fertilizers.Weerts Construction is charging for the type of work, not the product used.

Schenk said the fertilizer looks like rabbit pellets, as opposed to other fertilizers, which he said come in a granulated form.

&uot;It seems to be better,&uot; Schenk said. &uot;It should be good, because we’re working by the lake,&uot; he said.

(Contact Benjamin Dipman at ben.dipman@albertleatribune.com or 379-3439.)