Seagull 1: DID YOU HEAR? NSTAR IS NOT SPRAYING WELLFLEET AGAIN THIS YEAR.Seagull 2: NO JOKE? BET THAT'S JUST ANOTHER RUMOR.
Seagull 1: REALLY. IT WAS IN THE NEWSPAPER TODAY.
Seagull 2: WHICH NEWSPAPER?
Seagull 1: CAPE COD TIMES, FIRST PAGE. SO WE CAN REJOICE.
Seagull 2: AS LONG AS THEY DON'T SPRAY THIS HARBOR, I'M OKAY WITH IT.
Seagull 1: HOW CAN YOU SAY THAT? THOSE CHEMICALS ARE TOXIC FOR OUR FEATHERS, TOO.
Seagull 2: HOW SO?
Seagull 1: HAVEN'T YOU HEARD ABOUT DRIFT?
Seagull 2: SURE I HAVE. BUT THE POWERLINES ARE A MILE AWAY.
Seagull 1: WHAT ABOUT STREAMS, FLOWING INTO THE BAY? ALL WATER FROM THE GROUND WILL BE CONTAMINATED.
Seagull 2: WHATEVER. AS LONG AS I HAVE MY OYSTERS AND CLAMS ...
The Cape Cod Times reported today that Wellfleet is not one of the 49 towns listed on the NStar's YOR (yearly operational plan), which means more reprieve from herbicidal spraying. Hurray! According to the article, Sylvia Broude of Toxics Action Network said she hopes the merger with Northeast Utilities is seen as "an opportunity for the combined company to act as a leader in reducing the use of herbicides under power lines. We hope this 2012 plan brings us one step closer to a long-term no-spray commitment for Cape Cod that protects the sole-source aquifer from contamination." (Please help Toxic Action Network with a donation.)
Another year without herbicides is good. A decision to abandon the herbicidal plan would be even better.
Meanwhile, in Letters to the Editor, I had another letter published:
Last week Governor Patrick stated that NStar has become "a bigger participant in the green energy generation revolution underway right now." How green can our utility company be as long as it plans to abuse the environment with the use of five herbicides, plus surfactant, to control vegetation under the power lines of Cape Cod? What about the implications of polluting a sole-source aquifer with these endocrine-disruptive chemicals??? Cape Cod activists had hoped Governor Patrick would include a provision in the deal that would prevent NStar’s horrific plan. Our homes sit above a sole-source aquifer. We drink well water. Emerging science indicates endocrine disruptive chemicals can affect humans at lower doses than earlier thought. Senator Kerry is currently sponsoring a Senate bill to protect citizens from endocrine disruptive chemicals. What’s up with the Governor? His office provides protection from higher electricity bills, but chooses not to protect us from toxic-chemical pollution?
