We have seen how Ogunquit leads the way in Maine, to borrow Down East Magazine’s headline for their article about our pesticide ordinance and its awarding our town their Environmental Award for 2015, the first ever given to a town.
None of us should be surprised, then, that starting on Friday, afternoon, April 15, and continuing through Saturday, the 16th,
Washington, DC based Beyond Pesticides, the oldest and foremost clearing house for the dangers of chemical pesticides, along with the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), and Maine’s Toxics Action Center, have chosen Maine to host a national pesticide forum, Cultivating Community and Environmental Health, at the University of Southern Maine, in Portland.
Of course the sponsors would like someone from Ogunquit to speak at this conference to explain how our small town was able to pass our landmark ordinance, the first passed by voters in the country.
An Ogunquit spokesperson could easily describe how our small town, with well educated and concerned citizens who have continually protected our waters and made sure through the years that our beach remains clean and healthy, passed this landmark ordinance for our health and safety. We live in a community whose residents care passionately about the quality of our natural and beautiful environment.
In fact, this conference aims to help other communities follow Ogunquit’s example, and adopt similar ordinances and policies that will protect the health and environment of their towns and cities.
Like Ogunquit has done for years, the forum plans to concentrate on water quality, as well as addressing the use of chemical pesticides on such public areas as school grounds, recreation areas, town offices, and hospitals.
Several of these groups supported our effort to help our Ogunquit citizens learn about the danger of chemical pesticides and without their information and their appearances here in our town, our efforts to protect Ogunquit citizens and visitors from toxic chemicals might never have been successful.