Cape Cod for a Truly Green NSTAR

founded July 2010

•Donations in any amount urgently needed. 100% tax deductible.

Recent News:

Health Professionals are registering their opposition to spraying chemicals. Read Dr. Clapp's letter. (opens in pdf.)

Decide for yourself-- read the pesticide LABELS: nstar_actions.html

March 17, 2011. Falmouth and Mashpee are the 14th and 15th Cape Cod towns to sign a resolution to NStar against spraying.

February 10, 2011. Cape Cod Times publishes an opinion piece by Dr. Kristine Soly "Chemicals are Stealing Childhood."
Excerpt: "...If you agree to let NStar, or anyone else, spray hormone-mimicking chemicals into our environment (because cutting the foliage down takes too much time?), this is what you're signing on for. Not only will it poison the water and soil we all must use, but it will so significantly affect the health and well-being of our children that they will no longer be children, and the results will be irreversible. I think this is a terrible tragedy. To prevent it requires that we exercise the precautionary principle of not using a substance till it is proved safe, rather than using something till it is proved dangerous. Will this be an inconvenience for NStar? Apparently. Will it cost more not to spray these chemicals? Perhaps. Do our children's lives and health matter enough to restrain NStar from spraying? I guess we'll see!..."
Read the entire article on the GreenCAPE blog.

February 9, 2011. Editorial in Harwich Oracle calls Ad-Hoc committee "A Disappointment" "...It's a case of a powerful utility potentially enabling poisons to infiltrate drinking wells and watersheds so it can save a few bucks on hand-cutting."

February 8, 2011 -- Former committee members issue a press release: Citizen Stakeholders Quit Pesticide Committee, They charge that the process will not protect public health. Read the entire press release on the GreenCAPE blog.

February 8, 2011 -- Ad-Hoc Committee on Risk Analysis Vegetation Managment releases final report: Nstar is acting within the law. Well, we already knew that the MDAR and EPA loved Roundup! It's the health questions that are the issue, and there were no health professionals on the committee. Read the report and other information at barnstablecounty.org and follow the links.

February 7, 2011 -- Sue Phelan of GreenCAPE resigns from the Ad-Hoc Committee in Protest.... "It was my intention, upon accepting your invitation to a seat at this table, to enjoin the discussion in a good faith effort to review the known and unknown about herbicide use throughout Cape Cod. The vast majority of time was allotted to NSTAR and state pesticide regulators which, in the end, amounted to a review of regulations and modeling based on soils not characteristic of most of the Cape. This is not the risk analysis the committee was tasked with. The discussion related to human health impacts of herbicides was nonexistent -despite having provided the members a plethora of evidence from current peer-reviewed journals and letters from physicians and researchers. The superficial nature of the proceedings was disappointing at best and procedural flaws and voting irregularities too numerous to mention... " Other members of the committee also resigned in protest.

Read the entire letter to Chair Shelia Lyons on the GreenCAPE blog at the end of the group statement. greencape.org/wordpress/?p=229

SIGN ON to support our ramped up campaign--Cape Cod for a Truly Green NSTAR. According to its website and advertising, NSTAR claims to be a GREEN company.

In 2011, as part of its five-year Vegetation Management Plan, the electrical utility NSTAR plans to use five herbicides under 150 miles of power lines across Cape Cod. For decades, NSTAR used only non-chemical methods for controlling vegetation along power lines--using mechanical cutting and mowing exclusively. We are asking that NSTAR to abandon its current plan to use herbicides along rights-of-way on Cape Cod and commit to a no-spray, herbicide-free policy of vegetation management on Cape Cod and the Islands. VIEW THE COMPLETE FACTSHEET.

The following organizations have signed on thus far:
Barnstable Unitarian Church Social Justice Committee
Clean Water Action
Cape Cod Organic Gardeners
Concerned Citizens Against Herbicide Use on Cape Cod
Environment Massachusetts
GreenCAPE
MASSPIRG
Mass. Breast Cancer Coalition
Pegasus Foundation
Sierra Club, Cape Cod Chapter
Toxics Action Center

The sign-on letter for businesses and organizations:

July 2010

As part of its five-year Vegetation Management Plan in compliance with 333 CMR 11.00, NSTAR Electric and Gas Corporation (NSTAR) intends to apply five different herbicides under approximately 150 miles of electrical and transmission lines across Cape Cod and the Islands. For decades, NSTAR (formerly Boston Edison and Commonwealth Electric) used only non-chemical methods for controlling weeds along its rights-of-way, employing mechanical cutting and hand-mowing exclusively across the state, including on Cape Cod. (1)

Between 2004 and 2007, NSTAR began spraying pesticides on Cape Cod along rights-of-way. Residents on Cape Cod learned of these pesticide plans when NSTAR filed a new Vegetation Management Plan in 2008. Following months of public outcry and delay, NSTAR agreed to a moratorium on herbicide spraying through the end of 2010. In the spring of 2011 they intend to begin spraying once again. These herbicides threaten public health, the environment and precious drinking water resources on Cape Cod. We, the undersigned organization, oppose pesticide use along rights-of-way 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. Herbicides, like all pesticides, are designed to kill, and they can harm more than just the intended target. NSTAR plans to use glyphosate (Accord), imazapyr (Arsenal), metsulfuron methyl (Escort), triclopyr (Garlon 4), and fosamine ammonium (Krenite). According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), glyphosate can cause kidney damage and reproductive disorders in humans and is an endocrine disruptor. (2) Glyphosate is one of the most widely used pesticides in the country, and earlier this year the New York Times reported that its overuse is leading to the evolution of glyphosate-resistant weeds, forcing farmers to go back to plowing and other mechanical methods of weed control, or to even more toxic pesticides. (3)
A study in 1999 by the American Cancer Society linked glyphosate exposure to non-Hodgkins Lymphoma.(4)

• The herbicides NSTAR proposes for use on Cape Cod can migrate off rights-of-way, seeping into groundwater and surface water and exposing humans and aquatic organisms to toxic chemicals. A study of Metsulfuron Methyl on rights-of-way stated that the chemical is highly mobile in the environment and has the potential to contaminate groundwater. Cape Cod is an EPA-designated sole source aquifer, meaning the aquifer is the only source of drinking water for Cape Cod and ³if contaminated, would create a significant hazard to public health.² (6) Sandy soils across the Cape leave groundwater particularly vulnerable to contamination. Cape Cod is very windy and documented wind velocities rarely fall within label restrictions, meaning that herbicides will drift.

• Non-toxic alternatives to weed control on rights-of-way already exist and are readily available. For decades before 2004, NSTAR dealt effectively with weeds on Cape Cod through selective hand-cutting and mowing. We are asking NSTAR to return to those safer, non-chemical methods of weed control. We recognize that herbicide treatment can be less expensive in the short-term, however, the use of herbicides to control weed growth along rights-of-way on Cape Cod is an unnecessary risk for public health and the environment. The short-term financial benefits are far outweighed by the long-term liability for risks posed to precious drinking water, the health of Cape Cod communities, and the safety of workers. We request that NSTAR abandon its current plan to use herbicides along rights-of-way on Cape Cod and commit to a no-spray, pesticide-free policy of vegetation management on Cape Cod and the Islands.

---------------------------------------------

(1) /www.mass.gov/agr/pesticides/rightofway/vmp/NSTAR-VMP-2008-2012.pdf, p. 7
(2) www.epa.gov/safewater/contaminants/basicinformation/glyphosate.html#three (3)www.nytimes.com/2010/05/04/business/energyenvironment/04wed.html?pagewanted=all
(4) A Case-Control Study of Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma and Exposure to Pesticides, American Cancer Society, 1999. www.beyondpesticides.org/documents/acs-nhlymphoma-1999.pdf (5) www.oregon.gov/ODF/privateforests/docs/metsulfuronmethyl.pdf, Oregon State University.
(6) www.epa.gov/ne/eco/drinkwater/solecape.html

Respectfully,

ORGANIZATION/BUSINESS:__________________________________________________

CONTACT PERSON: ________________________________________________________

EMAIL ADDRESS: __________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ________________________________________________________________

PHONE NUMBER: __________________________________________________________

• read some of the public comments in the media saynaypublicity.html

• Download the sign-on letter and return to P.O. Box 631, West Barnstable, MA 02668   Over 150 Cape Cod businesses in every town have signed on. Watch for the complete list here.

Download the sign-on letter for BUSINESSES AND ORGANIZATIONS

Download the sign-on letter for TOWNS

Download the sign-on letter for LEGISLATORS

Download the FACT SHEET in pdf

More Information & to read the pesticide LABELS: nstar_actions.html

Some Questions and Answers

Q. If NSTAR is forced to stop spraying pesticides, does that mean homeowners have to stop spraying pesticides also?

A. While we certainly wish everyone would refrain from using toxic persistent pesticides on their property, NSTAR is spraying on public and private rights of way,not on land that it owns.

Q. Why is the Farm Bureau involved in this issue?

A. We really don't know. While more people are discovering the health benefits of organic food, farmers seem to have organized to support the NSTAR spraying. If you know any farmers who will SAY NAY TO THE SPRAY, please let us know!

Resolution by the Town of Eastham to NSTAR

RESOLUTION

The Town of Eastham requests that NSTAR abandon its current plan to use herbicides along rights-of-way on Cape Cod and commit to a NO-SPRAY, PESTICIDE-FREE Policy of vegetation management on Cape Cod and the Islands.

It is our understanding that between 2004 and 2007, NSTAR began spraying pesticides on Cape Cod along rights-of-way. Residents on Cape Cod learned of these pesticide plans when NSTAR filed a new Vegetation Management Plan in 2008. Following months of public outcry and delay, NSTAR agreed to a moratorium on herbicide spraying through the end of 2010.

It is our understanding that in 2011 they intend to begin spraying once again. These herbicides threaten public health, the environment and precious drinking water resources on Cape Cod. We, the undersigned town, oppose pesticide use along rights-of-way 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 proposes for use on Cape Cod can migrate off rights-of-way, seeping into groundwater and surface water and potentially expose humans and aquatic organisms to toxic chemicals;
• State policy lags far behind current science in the regulation of herbicides. We urge state policy making to review current herbicide regulations in light of latest scientific information.

We recognize that herbicide treatment can be less expensive in the short-term; however, the use of herbicides to control vegetation growth along rights-of-way on Cape Cod is an unnecessary risk for public health and the environment. The short-term financial benefits are far outweighed by the long-term liability for risks posed to precious drinking water, the health of Cape Cod communities, and the safety of workers.

We request, by virtue of this RESOLUTION, that NSTAR abandon its current plan to use herbicides along rights-of-way on Cape Cod and commit to a no-spray, pesticide-free policy of vegetation management on Cape Cod and the Islands.

Thank you for your consideration of this Resolution and for your interest in the Town of Eastham.

Linda S. Burt, Chair    Aimee J. Eckman, Vice-Chair    Martin F. McDonald, Clerk

Wallace F. Adams, II    John F. Knight    BOARD OF SELECTMEN

Download the Eastham resolution in pdf.

Publicity on the Campaign

•Cape Cod Times, Brent Harold Editorial, October 5, 2010.
"Will Prune-Ins Turn to Sit-ins?"
capecodonline.com

Weed-killing Chemicals Worry Cape Residents
WBUR, August 16, 2010

• The Cape Codder Newspaper, August 6, 2010 www.wickedlocal.com/chatham/news/x588238779/Watchdogs
Locals Track NSTAR Violations.

• WBZ 38: Cape Residents upset with Nstar chemical spraying, news article and video
wbztv.com/local/nstar.chemical.spraying.2.1855857.html

• Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog with comments 8/12/2010
www.beyondpesticides.org/dailynewsblog/?p=4071#comments

• August 15th, Sunday Journal with Sarah Colvin, interviews Sandra Larsen and Jared Collins. Streamed live on the internet at capecodbroadcasting.com

• Nstar stock page at finance.yahoo.com finance.yahoo.com/q?s=NST headline from Boston Business Journal:
Cape Businesses Oppose Nstar Spraying boston.bizjournals.com/boston/stories/2010/08/09/daily19.html?ana=yfcpc

Decide for yourself-- read the pesticide LABELS: nstar_actions.html