Stop Aerial Spraying Factsheet

Pesticides threaten Maine's environment
• In Downeast Maine, big agribusiness is spraying toxic chemicals into our waterways; the state has found chlorothalonil, a fungicide, and phosmet, an insecticide, in rivers near blueberry barrens. Additionally, the timber industry sprays approximately 35,000 acres of our forests.

• Pesticides from aerial spraying found in the Pleasant and Narraguagus Rivers, habitat of endangered Atlantic salmon, may affect the salmon's endocrine systems, juvenile and sexual development, and food supply.

Pesticides threaten our health
• Residents near blueberry fields have been hit by aerial pesticide spraying, causing skin rashes, headaches, respiratory problems and dizziness. Some pesticides are known carcinogens, but most health effects are untested.

• Agricultural pesticides have contaminated the wells of the Narragaugus High School and Cherryfield elementary school, forcing towns to filter or switch drinking water.

Cutting pesticide use and setting up right to know
• After Environment Maine and others threatened a Clean Water Act lawsuit, Cherryfield Foods, a large Canadian agribusiness, agreed to halt aerial pesticide spraying.

• At our urging, Rep. Jon McKane (R-Newcastle) introduced a bill to give the public the right to know what, where, when and in what amounts pesticides are being applied.

EPA attempting to weaken Clean Water Act
• Just after our victory over Cherryfield Foods, EPA proposed a formal rule that would exempt virtually all pesticide spraying from the Clean Water Act. Environment Maine is calling on clean water activists to submit comment in opposition to this latest rollback of Clean Water Act jurisdiction. (Docket OW-2003-0063, deadline April 2, 2005)