Scarborough preps for pesticide debate

SCARBOROUGH — It took more than a year for Scarborough’s ordinance committee to put together a policy banning the use of synthetic pesticides on public property, juggling the pros and cons at “just about every meeting” during that time.

“But that doesn’t mean this is a slam dunk,” said Town Manager Tom Hall, after the final vote, July 25, to push a finished product before the full council.

“The committee has not been of one mind on this, and that’s three of seven [on the Town Council],” said Hall. “Frankly, I don’t know which way this is going to go. Make no mistake, there are some who would like to ban the use of these town wide and have it extend to private property, as well.”

The drive to ban synthetic pesticides began several years with an attempt to pass an ordinance, after local environmentalist Eddie Woodin approached Councilor Karen D’Andrea with fears that chemicals in pesticides could travel from weeds to worms and insects, to eventually kill birds and bats. Then, last year, local resident Marla Zando approached D’Andrea with concerns about the effects of pesticide use on her son.

Paul Tukey, a Cumberland resident who started the nonprofit SafeLawns Foundation in 2004, has said there are reports linking pesticides to certain childhood cancers and ADHA (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder).

With that, D’Andrea leaped into action.

"We know it causes problems," she said, at the time. "We need to find ways to stop using it and relying on it."

According to the policy, written largely by D’Andrea and Councilor Carol Rancourt, “widespread use [of synthetic pesticides] is both a major environmental problem and [a] public health issue.”

The policy goes on to say, “Scarborough recognizes that the us of pesticides may have a profound effect upon indigenous plants, surface water and groundwater, as well as unintended effects upon people, birds and other animals in the vicinity of the treated areas.”

Despite that seeming alarm, the brakes were applied early on in the process, said Hall, when local landscapers and pesticide applicators who got wind of the proposal.

The problem, many noted, is that so-called organic pesticides, which treat the soil rather than the weed, can be just as toxic as their synthetic cousins. And more expensive.

We have a contractor who does all of the town grounds,” said Hall. “We asked him to provide an estimate to use on organic pesticides, and there was a 28 percent increase in costs. It’s not that the organic products are more expensive. You just need more of them.”

To date, only a handful of Maine towns have banned the use of synthetic pesticides, the most local being Brunswick and Ogunquit. Unlike those towns, however, Scarborough will stop short of a full-blown ordinance, settling instead for a policy.

“We don’t need an ordinance to regulate our own affairs,” said Hall. “A policy serves the same purpose.”

The policy will be taken up by the council in September. Rancourt asked that consideration be delayed until after the start of the new school year.

“I know there are students who have been interested in this and would like to observe the debate,” she said.