Latest news with #Tebuthiuron
Boston Globe
17-07-2025
- Boston Globe
What is it with the uber-rich and other people's trees?
Advertisement If Fitzgerald were alive today, he might very well write a novel in which an especially entitled rich person cuts down a neighbor's tree to enhance their views. It seems all the rage. In the latest case here in New England, some guy on Nantucket allegedly took a chain saw to 16 of his neighbor's cedar, cherry and cypress trees, some of them a half-century old. In Advertisement The lawsuit claims 'there is an active and ongoing criminal proceeding related to this conduct' by police on Nantucket. That could be a game-changer. Up to this point, prosecutors have been reluctant to file criminal charges when some rich jerk kills or removes a neighbor's trees to enhance the views from their property. Instead, rich people have been allowed to do what they have always done: buy their way out of trouble. It happened last year in Maine, when a wealthy and politically-connected couple from Missouri were able to pay their way out of a jam after Amelia and Arthur Bond III are big cheeses in St. Louis. She was the Three years ago, after secretly poisoning the trees of their neighbor, Lisa Gorman, widow of L.L. Bean chairman Leon Gorman, Amelia Bond approached Mrs. Gorman, expressing deep sympathy about the dying trees, graciously offering to split the cost of taking down the sweeping oak trees that blocked the Bonds' view of the harbor. It somehow slipped her mind to mention she had poisoned them in the first place. Being a saavy Mainer, Mrs. Gorman politely declined the offer and asked her arborist to investigate. Turns out the Bonds had headed to Maine that year with their yachting gear and some Tebuthiuron, a powerful herbicide commonly used on cattle ranches in the Midwest. When there is trouble, the very rich call not the police but their lawyers. Attorneys representing the Bonds and Mrs. Gorman began a series of negotiations which ended with the Bonds accepting responsibility for poisoning the trees. Advertisement In the end, Officials in the town of Camden didn't think that was enough. Last year, they asked Knox County District Attorney Natasha Irving and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey to pursue criminal charges. But no prosecutions have been forthcoming. Irving told me that, given the limited resources in her office, she couldn't in good conscience launch a criminal case. She said any admissions the Bonds made in civil settlement agreements with Gorman, the town and state would not be admissible in a criminal case. She concluded the only charge she might feasibly pursue was criminal mischief, a misdemeanor that carries a $250 fine. Expending that kind of taxpayer money to possibly get a rich couple to pay a pittance just wasn't worth it, she said. A Still, as Nantucket police continue their investigation, there is the example of Harvey Updyke to consider. Advertisement So, in 2010, when Auburn defeated his beloved Crimson Tide in their annual Iron Bowl game, Harvey Updyke was understandably upset. He decided to avenge that loss by But, unlike the Bonds, Harvey Updyke wasn't allowed to buy his way out of trouble. He couldn't have afforded to, anyway. As a retired state trooper, he wasn't exactly rolling in that kind of dough. Updyke didn't help his case by going on a call-in radio show and admitting to poisoning the trees, ending his call with, 'Roll, damn Tide.' He eventually pleaded guilty in 2013 to poisoning the trees, This leads to two observations with which F. Scott Fitzgerald would undoubtedly agree: it is better to be rich than nice, and they take their football very, very seriously in Alabama. Kevin Cullen is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Camden lawmaker proposes increase in state fines for improper pesticide use
Apr. 29—AUGUSTA — A Camden lawmaker is proposing an increase in state fines for improper pesticide use in response to a high-profile case in which a wealthy landowner's pesticide use damaged a neighbor's trees and caused chemicals to migrate to a nearby town park. The proposal from Rep. Vicki Doudera, a Democrat, comes in response to a 2022 case in Camden in which Amelia and Arthur Bond were cited for improperly using the herbicide Tebuthiuron, despite it being labeled "not for residential use," and for violating town ordinances by clearing too much vegetation and topping trees too close to the shoreline. The Bonds paid over $1.7 million in penalties, which included a $1.5 million settlement paid to the neighbor, Lisa Gorman, the widow of former chairman Leon Gorman; around $210,000 for violating the town's zoning ordinance and to cover the cost of soil testing in a nearby park; and $4,500 in fines to the state. "As soon as this happened, I had two thoughts," Doudera said during a legislative hearing Tuesday. "First, that the perpetrators would pay state fines that would be minuscule, not only in comparison to the damage done, but also to the monetary value of their now-expanded harbor view. Second, that I would be putting in legislation to increase the fines." Doudera's bill, LD 1697, would raise civil fines for pesticide violations from a maximum of $1,500 per violation to a maximum of $25,000. In cases where the violator is found to have "benefitted substantially," such as by increased property values, from the violation, the maximum penalty would increase from $4,000 to $50,000. Subsequent violations within the same four-year time period would be subject to maximum fines of $75,000 and $150,000, respectively. The bill would also direct the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to adopt rules allowing civil lawsuits to be brought against violators if pesticide application affects more than one property, providing for the restoration of property and vegetation in addition to the monetary penalties, and specifically designating pesticides with the active ingredient Tebuthiuron as state restricted use pesticides. Alex Peacock, director of the Bureau of Pesticides Control in the department, testified in support of the bill, saying the current penalties have been unchanged for over 20 years and have "lost their potency as deterrents." "Indeed, some applicators have come to view the current penalty structure as the cost of doing business," Peacock said. Some of the rulemaking proposals of the bill are redundant or unnecessary, Peacock said, noting for example that the bureau is already working on classifying Tebuthiuron as a restricted use pesticide, meaning that its use would be limited to certified applicators only. "But we strongly agree that ... the updates to existing penalties are needed," he said. In addition to the case in Camden, there have also been other instances of pesticide violations around the state, Doudera said. "I wish this was an isolated case, but it's not," she said. A list of violations on the Bureau of Pesticides Control website includes eight cases from 2024 and 11 from 2023, including the Bonds case. Heather Spalding, deputy director of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, said the association has been advocating for years for stronger regulations of pesticides sales and use. "We really are grateful for Rep. Doudera for her leadership in bringing forward this important legislation and we also want to thank the Board of Pesticides Control for their encouragement to get this much-needed increase in fines," Spalding said. No one testified against the bill Tuesday, though the executive director of the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine testified neither for nor against and said changes should be approached with caution. Eric Venturini said the increased penalties could be devastating for farmers. "Maybe there's a place to increase penalties, but not quite to the level that has been proposed," he said. Copy the Story Link
