State regulators will hold a public hearing Friday in Bangor on a proposal to tighten the rules on aerial spraying of pesticides near homes, businesses and other areas where people would be at risk of exposure.
Maine’s Board of Pesticides Control has been working for about two years to update its rules governing aerial spraying and what is known as “pesticide drift,” which is when winds or other factors carry the chemicals beyond the targeted area.
The issue has been most contentious in Washington and Hancock counties, where helicopters and planes are used to spray pesticides on some wild blueberry barrens.
The public hearing, which is scheduled for 9 a.m. Friday at the Bangor Motor Inn on Hogan Road, will focus on several substantive changes proposed to the board’s aerial spraying and notification rules.
Those changes include:
— Prohibiting aerial spraying of pesticides within 200 feet of “sensitive areas likely to be occupied,” which include homes, buildings, some public roads and recreational areas. A 200-foot buffer would not be needed if neighbors do not object to spraying, however.
— Requiring pesticide applicators to prepare maps of sensitive areas within 500 feet of the targeted site as well as pre-application site plans whenever spraying within 1,000 feet of sensitive areas.
— Requiring pesticide applicators to check whether people living or working within 1,000 feet of a targeted area want to be notified before spraying.
— Clarification of procedures regarding notifications and requesting a notification.
Henry Jennings, director of the pesticides board, said most of the proposed changes would apply only in situations where people may come in contact with the pesticides. The rules would not affect spraying in areas far from people or in cases where neighbors do not want to be notified.
Under pressure from environmental groups, several of Maine’s larger blueberry growers agreed to halt aerial spraying.
But Jennings pointed out that some of those same organizations as well as grass-roots community groups also have petitioned the board in the past to ban all aerial spraying. And spraying has been the subject of several bills introduced into the Legislature in recent years.
“They were all indicative that there was a lot of public concern about this,” Jennings said.
David Bell, executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine, cautioned that any rules should be flexible enough to accommodate the best management plans for individual sites.
Bell gave one example of where growers apply pesticides to the perimeter of fields, thereby impeding pests such as fruit flies from spreading to neighboring blueberry barrens. That can reduce the total amount of pesticide needed because growers would not need to treat the interior of the fields, he said.
One-size-fits-all regulations, such as buffer zone, could prevent that type of pest management, Bell said.
“[Pest] management has become much more sophisticated and therefore much more complex,” he said.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. at the Bangor Motor Inn at 701 Hogan Road.
The Board of Pesticides Control will accept written comments on the proposed rule changes through Dec. 3. Written comments should be sent to Henry Jennings, Director, Board of Pesticides Control, 28 State House Station, Augusta 04333-0028.
On 11/19/08 at 8:50 AM,
pcme2000 wrote:
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Why make it harder for these companys to do there work. They are trying to make money.
On 11/19/08 at 9:03 AM,
kboot73 wrote:
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i live next to a potato field and my yard got sprayed by aerial spraying. i don't know what they used, but that shit killed alot of my plants and killed a tree that i had planted. i had well over a thousand dollars worth of plants that were wiped out. i was home and seen the plane fly over when this happened, he sprayed directly over my home.
On 11/19/08 at 12:06 PM,
DonHoward wrote:
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If you move in to a rural area and there are agricultural businesses you should have checked on the activities they engage in their pursuit of business. If the smell of manure bothers you don't live near an animal farm,if your worried about spaying live in the city, not next to a blueberry field.
Want full time fire and police,street lights,city sewer and water, then move to the city and leave the rural areas to people who know how to live there.
On 11/19/08 at 12:49 PM,
anewday wrote:
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While on my deck I had some added to my coffee cup. I didn't get into the house fast enough to close up the windows: they didn't always come around to say when it was happening, nor drop a flyer in the mailbox. The drift can be significantly more than a mere 200feet. That's almost laughable. I also worried about my well water. When I wrote the state to complain some or more eight years ago, the guy who wrote back took to slamming me in the email for being direct about their lack of oversight. Guess he just liked cream and suagr in HIS coffee. Wish I still had the name and email. The spray was for lueberry fields... and we wonder why the bees are dying?? Couldn't be all those nasty chemicals could it?
On 11/19/08 at 1:12 PM,
jdmaine wrote:
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Finally theres some common sense going on in bangor!! Did anyone ever wonder why asthma, cancer, diabetes and every other form of sickness is happening all over america? well I'll say a lot of it is to be blamed on pesticide use. DDT didn't last for long once they realized it was wiping out all sorts of species and eventually us. who knows whats in these pesticides but if there working good enough to wipe out everything in a blueberry field im not so sure id want them hanging out in my yard where my kids and animals play. thanks BPC.
On 11/19/08 at 1:38 PM,
FarmerBrown wrote:
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I really LOVE the classic farmer's response. "If you don't like to have me spray your land, which you bought from me or my Father, then move away". It's great ain't it? Or, the other one is, if you don't like to smell poop, move to the city so I can SPRAY chemicals on your land indiscriminately. Why should I, Mr. Farmer,
even worry that I am violating your private property rights? Besides, I don't mind the smell of good old Cow poop. It's the CHEMICALS I dislike!
Why can't the Blueberry growers spray from the ground? How much would it cost to apply these dangerous chemicals more responsibly?
Years ago, I too lost all of my Bees to the Spruce Bud Worm spray program. I was farming then and my Bees were valuable pollinators. The
growers make damn sure that the rented Bees are off the land before they spray their chemicals, to protect their own profits. But, they don't
give a darn about their neighbor's property? Kind of one-sided, huh?
On 11/19/08 at 1:48 PM,
anewday wrote:
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Truth be told: DDT was in use in Africa and other nations for numerous years as we in America rid ourself of it. I think it is still in use there, perhaps under different names. Many studies by WHO in Africa showed excessive DDT in the breast milk of mothers... and of course these women can't take it to court. We need to keep in mind since we eat globally: pesticides are heavily used globally.
On 11/19/08 at 4:52 PM,
kboot73 wrote:
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Donhoward, my house is in town and we got sprayed. i don't know if you are implying that people don't know how to live in a rural area, not sure if i understood your comment, I don't believe because you live outside of town you are to expect to be sprayed anyways. Like i said, i live in town with fire and police, street lights, and city sewer. it just so happens that i live in a small town up in aroostook county and our town is surround by farming. Are you implying that since I live in a rural area that I can expect to get sprayed, that is like saying if you live in town you can expect to have the police come calling every day because there are drugs in the city's.
On 11/25/08 at 11:55 AM,
DonHoward wrote:
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GOTCHA!
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