February 15, 2014 Mr. Michael McClean Rights of Way Program Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources 251 Causeway Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114‐2151
Subject: An Open Letter to NSTAR and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Dear Mr. McClean: Please accept the attached open letter asking NSTAR and MDAR to abandon plans to spray pesticides throughout Cape Cod. As you can see from the many individuals and organizations who have co‐signed this letter, it demonstrates widespread disapproval of the proposed plans to spray pesticides throughout the Cape. Thank you for considering these comments as you review NSTAR’s proposed plans. Sincerely, Laura Kelley Director, POCCA Cape Cod
February 15, 2014 Mr. Michael McClean Rights of Way Program Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources 251 Causeway Street, Suite 500 Boston, MA 02114‐2151
Subject: An Open Letter to NSTAR and the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources Dear Mr. McClean: After avoiding using herbicides on its rights‐of‐way for the past four years, NSTAR has recently begun to spray these chemicals through several towns on Cape Cod. NSTAR is now asking MDAR to approve its plan to extend this spraying through much of the rest of the Cape this year. We ask NSTAR and MDAR to voluntarily abandon their efforts to use herbicides to control vegetation on Cape Cod. While technically these chemicals are permitted under current EPA regulations there is increasing evidence these chemicals may present serious long term harm to our health and our environment, particularly with respect to their role as potential endocrine (hormone) disruptors. The EPA first approved these herbicides decades ago, often with inadequate testing, long before any of us knew how much damage could be done by even very low dosages of some chemicals. Today, in response to growing awareness of the potential for endocrine disruptors to harm wildlife and the environment, the EPA has launched an effort to evaluate all pesticides as possible endocrine disruptors. The EPA’s initial list of chemicals to evaluate includes glyphosate1, the active ingredient in Roundup. In addition, other laboratory and epidemiological studies suggest that pesticides may also be linked to other health hazards, including DNA damage, cancer, birth defects, and neurological disorders. Other countries have taken the lead in this area. In 2009, Ontario, Canada banned the residential use and general sale of Roundup. In 2003, Denmark banned the spraying of Roundup after finding that the herbicide contaminated the country’s drinking water resources, although this decision was subsequently overturned. As recently as this September, the government of El Salvador banned the use of glyphosate and 52 other dangerous chemicals, linking them to a rare type of chronic kidney disease responsible for killing thousands of agricultural workers.
Instead, we suggest the Precautionary Principle, which Wikipedia summarizes as: “ . . . if an action or policy has a suspected risk of causing harm to the public or to the environment, in the absence of scientific consensus that the action or policy is harmful, the burden of proof that it is not harmful falls on those taking an action.”
1
For additional information about glyphosate, see http://www.beyondpesticides.org/pesticides/factsheets/Glyphosate.pdf
Finally, if NSTAR and MDAR insist on continued spraying, we encourage both organizations to develop more effective procedures to manage the program. Towns and residents need to know where NSTAR plans to spray in the coming week, and post which sections were sprayed and when they were sprayed. MDAR should require NSTAR to abide by specific wind limits, considering the recent incidents where NSTAR sprayed with winds up to 25 mph, far in excess of the 10 mph limit on the label. By law, MDAR must enforce NSTAR’s approved quantity limits, considering that NSTAR’s own video raises concerns NSTAR is spraying more than the one gallon per acre prescribed in the approved yearly operational plan. We all share a common love for Cape Cod, with its fragile environment and its sole source aquifer. Help us protect it for our children and our children’s children. Sincerely, See below Cc: Boards of Selectmen throughout Cape Cod Thomas May, President and Chief Executive Officer, Northeast Utilities Governor Deval Patrick, Senator Elizabeth Warren, Senator Edward Markey, Representative Sarah Peake, Senator Dan Wolf, MDAR Commissioner Gregory Watson The individuals and organizations listed below endorse this request for NSTAR and MDAR to abandon plans to spray herbicides on NSTAR’s rights‐of‐way on Cape Cod. Laura Kelley, Director, POCCA Cape Cod.org, Eastham Senator Daniel A. Wolf, State Senator, Cape & Islands Elysse Magnotto‐Cleary, Chief of Staff, Senator Dan Wolf Sarah K. Peake, State Representative, Fourth Barnstable District Cleon H. Turner, State Representative, First Barnstable District Truro Board of Selectmen: Jay Coburn, Chair Breon Dunigan, Vice Chair Janet Worthington, Clerk Robert Weinstein Paul Wisotzky Wellfleet Board of Selectmen: Berta Bruinooge, Chair Paul Pilcher, Vice Chair John Morrissey, Clerk Jerry Houk Dennis Murphy
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Provincetown Conservation Commission: Dennis Minsky, chair Dave Hale Barbara Prato Lynn Martin Richard J. Waldo, P.E., Director, Department of Public Works, Provincetown Board of Directors, Orleans Pond Coalition, Orleans Richard Hilmer, Chairman, Orleans Chamber of Commerce, Owner, Explore Cape Cod Tours, Orleans Bruce Stelle, Board of Health Chairman, Tisbury Malcolm Boyd, Board of Health, Commissioner, Tisbury Nicole Tudor, Licensing Agent/Administrative Secretary, Truro Selectmen’s Office, Truro Jennifer Sass, Ph. D., Senior Scientist, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Washington, DC Jack Kittredge, Policy Director, Northeast Organic Farming Association, Barre Patricia Bertschy, Trustee, Brewster Conservation Trust, Brewster (and Bob) Ed Begley, Jr., Actor/Environmentalist, Studio City, CA Early Barnhart, President, The Green Center, CEES, Falmouth Elizabeth C. Minear, Orleans Conservation Trust, Orleans Paul Lawrence Minear, Orleans Water Quality Task Force, Orleans Karen Vale, Campaign Manager, Cape Cod Bay Watch, Plymouth Charles Mayo, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown Laura R. Ludwig, Project Director, Center for Coastal Studies, Provincetown Carolyn Morton, C&G Home Repair, San Francisco, California Colleen McDermott, Concerned Mother, Burbank, CA Rachelle Carson, Actress, Studio City, California Cape Cod Affiliate, Move To Amend, Movetoamend.org Outer Cape Chapter, Progressive Democrats of America Claudia Michaelis, Eastham Mark H. Robinson, Barnstable Rose Anne Negele, Ed.D, Boston Contemporary Psychotherapy Terri A. Guarino, Health Inspector, Town of Bourne Amber Tubman, Owner, Brewster Sand and Gravel, Brewster Andrea L. Hanson, Eastham Betsy Smith, Brewster Charles Madansky, Co‐Director, Family Resource Center, Brewster Chris Tobin, Brewster Crystal Zinn, Brewster David Karam, Brewster Deirdre M. Sullivan, Director of Children and Youth Ministries, Brewster Unitarian Church, Brewster
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James Foley, Selectman, Brewster Kara Duff, Brewster Kathleen Budreski, Brewster Mary Ann Nickerson, LMT, Capemassaeandyoa.com, Brewster Matthew Cannon, Brewster Nina Tobin, Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Brewster Peter Duff, Brewster Ray Parks, Owner, RSP Welding, Brewster Ron Backer, Brewster Steve Baty, Brewster Wilderness Sarchild, Brewster Kim Spiro, Centerville Ella Leavitt, Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Chatham Karen Ryder, Chatham Rory Eames, Owner, Cape Cod Natural Markets, Chatham and Dennisport Marybeth Verani, Dennis‐Yarmouth Human Rights Group Christina Jervant, East Dennis Shawn Nelson, Dahlsrom, East Dennis Joan Kozar, East Harwich Carolyn Castiglione, Eastham Debbie Blanton, Vice President, MBS Properties, Eastham Gary Michaelis, Eastham Gillian Drake, Shank Painter Publishing, North Eastham James Hild, Unitarian Universal List Plan, Eastham James Whalen, Eastham Janis Sommers, LMT, CVD, CT, Twenty First Century Health and Maris Day Spa, Eastham Karen Strauss, Eastham Kelly Donston, Eastham Lisa Gledhill, Owner, MBS Properties, Eastham Nancy Cronin Cook, North Eastham Sandra Bourbeau, Eastham Sarah Burrill, Senior Prevention Specialist, FCD Educational Device, Eastham Sharon Davis, President, Nauset Garden Club, Eastham Thomas Reilly, Eastham Hilde Mainay, The Green Center, Inc, FCAT, CEES, Falmouth Dorothy Mclver, Greenfield Sandra Boston, Greenfield Suzanne R. Carlson, Greenfield Diane Turco, Harwich An Open Letter to NSTAR and MDAR
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Doug and Chris Meyer, Harwich Michelle Pelletier, Director of Center of Psychic Healing, Harwich Zoe Wolf, Harwich David Lane, Hyannis Katherine Bloom, Artist/Designer, Hyannis Susan Fernald, Hyannis Dr. Debra Babcock, Harmony Network Chiropractic & Yoga Linda Masters, Nantucket Steve Kleinberg, Branch Director, Regional Emergency Sheltering, Nauset Facility Mifa Ban Arsdale, Model, Artist, North Truro Don Krohn, Owner, Whole Food Store, Orleans Frances Francis Designs, Orleans Janis Brennan, Owner, Main Street Books, Orleans Jim McCauley, President, Business Architects, Orleans Joan Grant, Orleans Judith W. Bruce, Orleans Laura Scheel, Student/Mother/Writer, Orleans Mary Utt, Orleans Michael Farber, Orleans Nat Santoro, Kinlin Grover Commercial Group, Orleans Peter Deeks, East Orleans Rosie Hatch, Rosie’s Landscapes, Orleans Theresa Toscano, Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Orleans Wendy Shreve, Orleans Winifred Fierald, Orleans Charles Doten Bramhall, Territory Manager, Harrells LLC, Plymouth Brian O’Malley, MD, Provincetown Erik Hansen, Provincetown Michael Hall, Realtor, Provincetown Nicco Stefani, Provincetown Raddi Samardjieva, Provincetown Richard Delaney, Provincetown Elizabeth Swanson Goldberg, Ph.D, Babson College Professor of English, Sandwich Lisa Sheehan, Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Sandwich Laurie Gates, South Chatham Katie Clancy, The Cape House, South Dennis Donna DiGiovanni, Truro Josiah Mayo, Owner, Chequessett Chocolate, Truro Katherine Reed‐Mayo, Owner, FarmMaid Foods, Truro An Open Letter to NSTAR and MDAR
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Deborah McCulloch, RN, Truro Kim Kettler, Truro Stephen DiGiovanni, Truro Petra Lent McCarron, Vineyard Haven Christine Van Hooft, Wellesley Bethia Brehmer, Wellfleet Beverly Callistini, Wellfleet Catherine J. Butler, Wellfleet Debra Giza, Wellfleet Edward Miller, Wellfleet Ennie McDonald, HHC, Owner, Fleet Town Organics, Wellfleet Eric Gustafson, Owner, Funseekers, Wellfleet Erin Mitchell, Wellfleet Madeleine Entel, Wellfleet Sandra Grabbe, Chez Sven Bed & Breakfast, Wellfleet Stephen J. Oliver, Owner, Oliver’s Red Clay Tennis, Wellfleet Diane Philos‐Jensen, West Barnstable James N. Jensen, West Barnstable Kathleen Quinn‐ Kortis, West Barnstable Janet & Tom Azarovitz, West Falmouth Jeffrey A. Schwartz, West Harwich Thomas S. Hodgson, West Tisbury Trevor Nelson, Co‐Founder, Pure Solutions, Worchester Jim Wolf, Director of Sustainability for Cape Air, Yarmouth Jim Wisner, Kinlin Grover Real Estate, Yarmouth Port Lauren Baskin, Yarmouth Port Wendell Sharp, Yarmouth Port Wesly Price, Cape Cod Mushroom Club, Yarmouth Port
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