To the editor:
Regarding the November Working Waterfront article, “Despite questions, pesticide use persists in coastal towns,” by Craig Idlebrook we thank you for running this article and for helping get the facts out about the increased use of yard care pesticides in Maine.
There are a few points in the article that need clarification:
1) YardScaping is referred to as an “organic” program in at least two places. YardScaping is not an “organic” program, but one based on Integrated Pest Management, which includes organic practices as one of its possible approaches. One of the basic goals of YardScaping is to reduce reliance on pesticides and fertilizers, but not to become organic exclusively. YardScaping website: www.yardscaping.org.
2) The article states that “Recently, Maine passed a law banning the use of pesticides on public school grounds.” This is not true. In 2003, Maine did pass Chapter 27, “Standards for Pesticide Application and Public Notification in Schools.” This established procedures and standards for applying pesticides in school buildings and on school grounds, but does not prohibit them…
3) In the section about Charlie Pierpont of the Ellsworth school system, the article seems to imply that he applied Lebanon 19-0-6 with 0.3 Weed Control without realizing it contained an herbicide. In fact, the school consulted with the Board of Pesticides on this. Our investigation determined that this was only proposed, but it was never applied to the school grounds…
Again, thank you for your interest in this subject.
Paul Schlein
Public Information Officer
Maine Board of Pesticides Control Augusta