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Poisoned trees, ocean views, and a $1.7M bill: Report spotlights an herbicide caper roiling a coastal Maine town
The herbicide in question is “used to control woody vegetation in rangelands” and is not for residential use, according to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control.
Allegedly in the pursuit of better ocean views, a coastal Maine homeowner applied herbicide to her neighbor’s trees nearly three years ago — a costly choice that would ultimately pollute a publicly owned beach, raise the threat of criminal charges, and leave homeowner Amelia Bond and her husband Arthur on the hook for more than $1.7 million.
The Portland Press Herald explored the puzzling saga in an article earlier this week, examining the lingering effects in the town of Camden, a midcoast community with a population just north of 5,000. The Bonds are seasonal residents and live most of the time in Missouri, the Press Herald reported.
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According to the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, Lisa Gorman — the Bonds’ neighbor and the widow of longtime L.L.Bean president and CEO Leon Gorman — enlisted an arborist when she noticed a decline in two of her oak trees in July 2022. The arborist found evidence of the herbicide Tebuthiuron, as did a Board of Pesticides Control representative who conducted a site inspection at Gorman’s home on Metcalf Road.
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According to the Board of Pesticides Control, Tebuthiuron is “used to control woody vegetation in rangelands” and is not for residential use. The board noted that “a wide variety of trees and shrubs” near Gorman’s home were showing signs of decline.
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Town officials put the Bonds on notice in December of 2022, and the couple explained — through a letter from an attorney — that Amelia Bond brought the herbicide up from Missouri and applied it to the base of two oak trees on Gorman’s property that she believed were dying, according to the Board of Pesticides Control.
The Press Herald reported that the Bonds’ reasoning was vague, though there was mention of a browntail moth infestation. Gorman’s attorney pushed back on that explanation in a July 20, 2023, letter obtained by the newspaper.
“It is my client’s position that the cutting the tops off numerous trees and applying a strong herbicide on her property was admitted to have been done by the Bonds to improve their view of Camden Harbor,” the attorney wrote, per the Press Herald. “There should be no misperception concerning a browntail moth problem with Mrs. Gorman’s property, as none existed.”
Amelia Bond’s use of Tebuthiuron in the fall of 2021 “was conducted in a careless, negligent or faulty manner,” the state Board of Pesticides Control alleged. According to the Bangor Daily News, the Bonds ultimately faced a $215,200 bill through a consent agreement with the town, plus a $4,500 penalty under an agreement with the state. The couple also settled privately with Gorman, according to the Penobscot Bay Pilot, which reported that the “substantial” sum exceeded $1.5 million.
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The agreement with the town reportedly left the Bonds liable for cleanup costs if the herbicide made its way to nearby Laite Memorial Beach. When samples taken from the public beach tested positive for Tebuthiuron in March, the town voted to take its concerns up with the state Attorney General’s Office, according to the Press Herald. Camden Select Board Chair Tom Hedstrom also called for criminal charges, the Penobscot Bay Pilot reported.
“This was flagrant,” Hedstrom told the Press Herald. “I will be disappointed if (the AG’s office) does not make a strong statement about this.”
Read the Portland Press Herald’s in-depth report.
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