What's New Under the Power Lines?

If you happened to be in Wellfleet this past weekend and had occasion to drive east towards the ocean, you would have noticed something unexpected. Check out the sturdy wooden fence that went up recently on either side of Long Pond Road. It is not clear who gave permission for the utility company to block access to the rights-of-way or, indeed, whether anyone was consulted ahead of time. Similar fences are going up all across Cape Cod. Not only are there fences. The utility company has also installed metal gates that can be locked. This show of force provides evidence that the plan to spray up to five herbicides has not been abandoned for one minute. Wellfleetians were out removing vegetation a couple weeks ago to prove there is a non-chemical option, one that does not put pregnant women, children, and pets at risk of endocrine disruption through the contamination of our sole-source aquifer: mowing and pruning, a safer method that was used successfully in the past.