This proposed bill is bad for you, your family, your friends, and your town

LD 1505 is bad for you, your family, your friends…and your town.

This Bill would take away the rights of the people of Maine to determine how they live and what kind of environment they want for raising their children and pets and having them thrive. LD 1505 is an attempt to abolish the right of Maine’s towns and municipalities to decide what they wish to do about chemical and synthetic pesticides. The Bill will have a hearing on Monday, May 1st, by the Maine Legislative Committee in Augusta.

Here in Ogunquit, we have had an ordinance forbidding the use of chemical pesticides on both town and private lands with some exceptions. Businesses and homeowners can ask the code enforcement officer for exemptions as well.

Many other Maine  towns have some kind of pesticide ordinance on the books, including Allagash, Amherst, Arrowsic, Brighton Plantation, Brunswick, Castine, Coplin Plantation, Cranberry Isles, Harpswell, Lebanon, Limerick, Limestone, Montville, Newburgh, New Gloucester, New Sweden, Owl’s Head, Rangeley, Rockland, South Portland, Southport, Standish, Sweden, Waterboro, Wayne, and Wells. Some have had such an ordinance for many years. All these ordinances would be invalidated by LD 1505.

Enough evidence links the use of chemical and synthetic pesticides to Alzheimer’s, birth defects, cancer, liver damage and many other severe health problems. All of us should think twice about using these potentially hazardous chemicals, especially since our children are particularly sensitive to these synthetic and chemical pesticides. LD 1505 would not allow towns to protect their citizens by passing ordinances protecting them against the use of harmful pesticides.

What can you do? Contact your state representative and state senator. Ours are in our annual town report. Or contact the Legislative Committee Clerk at: Rebecca.Harvey@Legislature.Maine.gov . Tell the Legislative Committee Maine towns will not surrender their local control nor our right to determine our own environment. Tell them to oppose LD 1505.

Why not do this now? It will take a minute or two and you’ll feel good. What could be easier?

Bill Baker

About Bill Baker

Bill's interest in a clean place to live is rooted in growing up in the country – a cornfield across the road and fields, sandstone cliffs and hundreds of acres of woods where he spent many hours.