The Portland City Council approved an ordinance late Wednesday that prohibits the use of synthetic pesticides for outdoor pest management on public and private property.
Councilors voted 9-0 to approve the ordinance after a one-hour workshop that was followed by a lengthy debate on 10 proposed amendments to the pesticide law. Two amendments passed, one of which set the ordinance’s start date for July 1.
“It was a lot of work that took place over a lot of months, but I think the people of Portland should be very proud,” Mayor Ethan Strimling said.
Councilor Spencer Thibodeau supported the ordinance and said it was modeled after a South Portland law. It means that Portland will start using organic pesticides on all city-owned properties beginning this summer. The only exempt properties will be Hadlock Field, Riverside Golf Course and five high-use athletic fields that remain exempt until 2021.
“This is a really solid first step for the city of Portland,” Thibodeau said.
The ordinance also creates an advisory committee that will be tasked with developing a campaign to educate the public and retailers about the land care practices that do not require pesticides and about organic alternatives.
Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
Copy the Story LinkSend questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.