KENNEBEC JOURNAL • August 16, 2022
The city is considering a local ordinance to restrict the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. The ordinance would align Hallowell with roughly 30 cities and towns in Maine that have enacted similar policies to protect citizens and the environment from exposure to toxic chemicals. Rosemary Presnar, who was recognized as the 2022 Old Hallowell Day Citizen of the Year for her environmental work, told the council she had been recently diagnosed with Lyme disease. One day, she felt good enough to go outside, but minutes afterward she saw a truck pull into her neighbor’s yard and begin spraying. She asked the man what he was spraying, and he said it was a fertilizer. But after looking up the brand name, 19-0-5, Presnar discovered it was an herbicide. The Environmental Protection Agency says that it’s highly toxic to aquatic organisms.