The boaters and swimmers flocking to Long Lake in southwestern Maine for safe outdoor recreation during the pandemic are boosting local businesses, but some people are leaving behind something unwanted.
Multiple complaints about human poop on shorelines and on private property prompted the head of the Lakes Environmental Association to write to the Bridgton selectboard in late July, asking it to install portable toilets near a popular boat launch.
“Because boating and lake recreation is a relatively safe activity right now, more people appear to be out on the water and the problem seems to be getting worse,” wrote Colin Holme, the association’s executive director, in his letter dated July 30.
Holme said he wrote to make the board aware of a “serious health and sanitation issue,” and recommended that it install a portable toilet at the town’s public boat launch on Power House Road. The association briefly posted a sign outside its office on Main Street saying, “Reminder. The lake is not a toilet.”
The 11-mile-long lake is bounded by the towns of Bridgton, Naples and Harrison, each of which has a public boat launch. It is popular among local residents and visitors alike.
Bridgton Town Manager Robert Peabody Jr. said the town has seen a big increase in the number of people boating.
“When you increase your numbers you certainly increase the number of people who do these types of things. But that still leaves no excuse for somebody to get off their boat and go on somebody’s property to relieve themselves,” he said. “I mean, that’s just poor upbringing.”
A person must be caught in the act to be arrested, said Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office patrol Sgt. Jim Esterbrook. And someone was caught about a month ago when a boat pulled near the shore of Long Lake and someone jumped out, headed onto private property and pooped. That person was charged with disorderly conduct, he said.
Esterbrook said that other charges like indecent conduct for exposure or trespassing could apply, depending on how much a person is exposed when they are caught.
A Maine Warden Service spokesperson was not immediately available to say if public defecating is a problem at other Maine lakes. Peabody said it isn’t a problem at nearby Highland Lake and Woods Pond, but the walls of the public bathroom at the beach have been spread with feces, toilets stuffed with beach towels and the floor covered by human waste.
Bridgton has public bathrooms on a nearby public beach called Salmon Point, but none at the boat launch, Peabody said. He acknowledged that a portable toilet at the Power House Road boat launch makes sense, but the town cannot proceed because the land is owned by the state of Maine. He said the town plans to ask the state if it can locate a toilet there.
Naples Town Manager John Hawley said poop at the lake isn’t unique to this summer, but the number of times it has happened this year makes it a bigger issue now.
“There are just so many people on the water,” he said, adding that he has no estimates of how many more, but they have been a boon to businesses.
“Water-dependent businesses in town are all doing exceptionally well this year in both sales and rentals because people feel safer social distancing out on the water,” Hawley said.
Naples has public toilets along the causeway by Long Lake, and Naples Marina also has them. The public pooping perplexes Pellerin.
“I’m not sure if people are not familiar with the area or it’s just laziness,” he said.
Harrison does not have public toilets at its boat launch, although a nearby eatery has a couple outside.
In his weekly email, Harrison Town Manager Tim Pellerin urged residents to “be respectful of others and keep our lakes and shores clean and use the proper facilities and hygiene.”