BRUNSWICK
Heeding public concern about the scheduled spraying of an insecticide to kill the brown tail moth population at the high school campus, the district has postponed the application.
Jean Powers, a retired farmer, pointed out a blueberry barren abuts the school property, and the spraying of pesticides to kill moths will poison the bees pollinating the nearby land.
“They are the pollinators — no bees, no food,” she said in closing. The spraying was scheduled for Sunday, but it was decided late Thursday night it would be canceled, said Assistant Superintendent Pender Makin Friday.
Makin said the decision was made by Superintendent Paul Perzanoksi and Facilities Director Scott Smith to postpone the application so they can consult with local experts and find an alternative, and more organic, solution to using the pesticide permethrin. Smith was not in the office Friday to discuss the decision.
Before the change in plans, Bartlett Tree Experts had been hired to spray moth-infested trees at Brunswick High School. The active ingredient in the pesticide, permethrin, is toxic to insects, including bees. In the notice sent to parents and guardians by the district to alert of the application, the fact sheet about the chemical said it was highly toxic to bees, even if it is residual on weeds, and that it is toxic to aquatic life.
Included in the information sent home to parents about the product, it states, “do not apply this product or allow it to drift to crops or weed on which bees are actively foraging.”
There are more than 50 species of native bees associated with low-bush blueberries in the state. However, because of the alarming decline in native bee numbers over the past several decades due to bee habitat loss, fragmentation and pesticide use, farmers have relied more and more on managed bees, according to a fact sheet on bees in Maine, compiled by the University of Maine Cooperative Extension.
According to the town’s assessing department, the blueberry land, at 56 Gott Lane, spans 56 acres and is owned by five people, all of the same family. One of the owners, Donald Hill, said Thursday the land has been farmed by his family for three generations, starting with his grandfather. Hill said as far as he is aware, he was not notified of the spraying, and his brother and co-owner, Jon, also said Thursday he was not notified. Jon Hill said he would have liked to have been notified about the spraying.
According to Board of Pesticide Control and the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, property owners have a right to know about pesticide use in their area, but must take the first step in requesting notification. Those wanting notification must join a registry and request notification annually from their neighbors if the pesticide application is within 500 feet of what is described as a sensitive area, or 1,000 feet if it is an aerial application.
The field is leased by the Hill family, and the property was listed on the MOFGA website in 2016 as a certified organic blueberry field known as Larrabee Blueberry Farm LLC.
In the original plan, the district did work to mitigate risk to the bee poulation. Smith said precautions would be exercised, such as starting the application at 6 a.m. before wind is expected to pick up and could disperse the pesticide to neighboring land, and at least 24 hours before a rainfall to ensure there is no run off of the chemicals into watershed areas. Only hardwood trees will be sprayed, and flowering trees, such as dogwood, will be untouched. The entire campus will not be sprayed, just the trees identified to have an infestation of moths. The director said he was not certain how many trees will be sprayed, but said they are not located on the property line separating the blueberry field and the school grounds. Smith said the school did not spray for moths last year, but the severity of the infestation has created the need to spray this year.
This story will be updated when a new plan is decided.
jlaaka@timesrecord.com
The ridding of brown tail moth
• BARTLETT TREE EXPERTS has been hired to spray moth-infested trees Sunday at Brunswick High School. The active ingredient in the pesticide, permethrin, is toxic to insects, including bees. In the notice sent to parents and guardians by the district to alert of the application, the fact sheet about the chemical said it was highly toxic to bees, even if it is residual on weeds, and that it is toxic to aquatic life.
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