Town of Bourne to NSTAR – Nay to the Spray

The Town of Bourne is to be applauded for their recent demonstration of leadership in the matter of NSTAR herbicide spraying on Bourne properties.
In previous years the Bourne Board of Selectmen along with Select Boards/Town Councils of Cape and Vineyard towns passed the resolution
submitted by GreenCAPE that opposed the spraying of undisclosed mixtures of herbicides on private and town-owned lands under the NSTAR electrical transmission lines. Stacks of petitions were collected Cape-wide and personally delivered by GreenCAPE members, Sen. Dan Wolf, and Rep. Sarah Peake to the office of the NSTAR CEO Tom May. Still, NSTAR (recently rebranded as “Eversource Energy”) sprayed their noxious biocides on Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard-our national treasures.

On February 10th, the Town of Bourne, MA, held a special town meeting where residents voted in a similar resolution which reads, in part:

“We, the undersigned town, oppose  pesticide use along rights-of-ways on Cape Cod and ask that  NSTAR commit to a no-spray, herbicide-free policy  on Cape Cod rights-of-way for the following reasons:

-In general, herbicides are harmful to living organisms.  The herbicides NSTAR proposed for use on Cape Cod can migrate off rights-of-way, seep into groundwater and surface water and potentially expose humans and aquatic organisms to toxic chemicals.

-State policy lags behind current science in the regulation of herbicides. We urge state policy making to review current herbicide regulations in light of latest scientific information.”

This latest resolution was passed by Bourne special town meeting voters without fuss. Passage by town meeting is a very strong statement from the
residents that they won’t accept the NSTAR’s secret spraying of untested mixtures of herbicides over town and private wells. How many times and in
how many ways do citizens have to say “NO!” to the NSTAR secret spraying of herbicides? NSTAR doesn’t own the properties it sprays and usually doesn’t give notice of the spraying to landowners so they can avoid chemical exposure to themselves, their families, their pets, and gardens. The State
regulator of this utility, Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) , approves NSTAR’s plan and then turns a blind eye to any
irregularities or violations in the plan’s implementation in the field. MDAR doesn’t do field inspections despite numerous complaints and harmful
exposures. Post-spraying, the inspector takes three weeks before sampling the sprayed property for off-site drift and then claims there is not enough sample to test for the herbicide sprayed in the highest volume. Is MDAR dismissing the taxpayers who support their salaries in deference to the powerful and politically connected utility company?

Days after the Bourne special town meeting vote, NSTAR published their public notice for the 2015 Yearly Operational Plan (YOP)  for Cape Cod
towns (Click here to read).  This site provides the text of the YOP filing, maps, sensitive area table, herbicide fact sheets, herbicide labels, etc. The comment period for Cape residents ends on Fri., Mar. 27. If you live or vacation on the Cape, you should know that the following towns have been targeted for herbicide spraying as part of this plan–Barnstable, Bourne, Chatham, Dennis, Eastham, Falmouth, Harwich, Mashpee, Orleans, Sandwich, Truro, Wellfleet & Yarmouth. Provincetown has no electrical rights-of-way. Brewster and Martha’s Vineyard towns aren’t listed this year but that wouldn’t stop NSTAR from spraying there. The company has already demonstrated on numerous occasions that they are not trustworthy. Also, they claim the right to “touch up”. This spraying is happening all over the state and beyond-wherever there are electric transmission lines.

Check with your town officials and see if NSTAR (Eversource Energy) has published a plan for your town. YOPs for your area may be found at the MDAR website. If you don’t see your town’s YOP yet, check back later, as not all have been published yet. It’s important for residents to send comments on their YOP before the deadline,  which will differ for each town. Also, let your town officials AND state representatives know of your objections to the secret spraying of toxic mixtures of herbicides on private and town-owned lands without notice or consent. If legislators work together on this problem, they can protect the health of their constituents and the local water supply.

Send your YOP comments to:

John Lebeaux, MDAR Commissioner
Department of Agricultural Resources
251 Causeway St, Suite 500
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-626-1700
Fax: 617-626-1850

In response to the publication of this NSTAR 2015 YOP and reiterating their earlier resolutions, the Bourne BOS wrote a strong letter to Governor Charlie Baker explaining their concerns for the town wells and requesting the revocation of the 5 year Vegetation Management Plan (VMP)
2013-2017 for Cape Cod. Should this governor heed the warning and revoke the VMP, it would buy time for the towns to coordinate and plan for the use of alternate non-chemical methods for vegetation clearance. Non-chemical means have been used successfully for decades-simple cutting, mowing, and pruning. Goat grazing is an old/new method that should be incorporated with these controls.

Because of NSTAR’s pattern of spraying violations around the Cape (and their other service areas) AND the lack of enforcement of the State regulations, the safety of residents cannot be assured in the foreseeable future. Therefore, it would be appropriate and justified for all Select Boards/Town Councils to seek immediate revocation of the 5 year VMP from the Governor and the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs(EEA) and demand more reasonable means to accomplish the goals of keeping the ROWs clear— means that insure the purity of the water supply and the health of residents. Please contact your local officials to join in the Town of Bourne’s request.

We know the spraying will be stopped. With your help, it can be halted much sooner and with less toxic trespass! Follow this NSTAR campaign on the GreenCAPE Facebook!

Work with GreenCAPE and Massachusetts Breast Cancer Coalition to halt the secret spraying for good. It’s all about prevention:

“For those in whom cancer is already a hidden or visible presence, efforts to find cures must of course continue. But for those not yet touched by the
disease and certainly for the generations as yet unborn, prevention is the imperative need.” Rachel Carson, Silent Spring.