Camden has found traces of an herbicide in the soil and groundwater at a beachfront town park after the chemical was illegally applied to trees on two neighboring properties several years ago.
Arthur and Amelia Bond, who own a home at 1 Metcalf Road, have already paid more than $200,000 in fines and other fees in connection with their unauthorized use of the herbicide, tebuthiuron, on trees belonging to them and a neighbor in 2021. They’ve entered legal settlements with the state, the town and their neighbor, and contaminated soil has already been removed from the two private residences.
But since the Bonds live so close to Laite Memorial Beach & Park, town officials also hired an engineering firm to test in December whether the herbicide had spread into its soil and groundwater. The results, which were released this month, showed trace amounts of tebuthiuron were present in the park. The results were first reported by the PenBay Pilot.
Though the amounts are lower than the risk levels identified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, local officials are still angry about the discovery.
“It was very deliberate and malicious,” said Town Manager Audra Caler. “It’s really something that people in Camden are enraged about, and they just want to discourage this from ever happening again.”
An attorney for the Bonds, who normally live in St. Louis, Missouri, did not respond to a request for comment.
The town’s immediate plan is to assess whether there are any risks to human health or the environment, which is one of the recommendations of the firm that did the testing, Seevee & Maher Engineers. It also recommended that the town continue to monitor the soil and groundwater in the area and investigate removal options.
Officials have left the beach open for now and hope to do the risk assessment soon, as more people will start wanting to visit the area as the weather warms, according to Caler.
The greatest level of the herbicide found in soil samples from the beach was 0.21 milligrams per kilogram, which is well below the federal risk level of 3.9 milligrams per kilogram.
Tebuthiuron, which is normally used for limiting the growth of brush on fields, is moderately toxic for mammals if swallowed and slightly toxic if inhaled, according to the EPA. The herbicide is practically non-toxic to birds, fish and aquatic invertebrates, and doesn’t build up in the food chain the way other toxins, such as mercury, do.
Since the herbicide can seep into groundwater, Caler said the town’s select board is also looking at further options for sanctioning the Bonds. There is not believed to be any risk to drinking water in the area, as public water is piped in from elsewhere, but there could be risk to marine life, according to Seevee & Maher.
The use of herbicides is heavily restricted in Maine. According to a consent agreement with the state, the Bonds previously violated three Maine laws when they applied tebuthiuron around their home: using pesticides in a way that is inconsistent with their label, using them in a “careless” manner and not receiving permission to use them on another property.
The Maine Board of Pesticides Control is also doing its own testing at the Camden beach. Under previous agreements, the Bonds are expected to pay for all state and local remediation efforts.