AUGUSTA – The amount of pesticides used along state roads has declined sharply in recent years, the state Department of Transportation says.

During last year’s spraying season, the department used about a pint of chemicals for each mile of road, said Robert Moosmann, the agency’s herbicide program manager. That total includes the sides of each lane.

“About five years ago, we were using one to two quarts per mile. So we’ve actually been reducing our amount of herbicides,” he said.

The department clears roadsides in order to maintain proper sight distances for motorists and to provide an area to push back snow, enable motorists to pull over in emergencies and allow sunlight to reach the road to reduce icing.

Moosmann said applications of herbicides probably will drop off even more in the future.

“For one thing, we have less brush now and we have been planting lupine, crown vetch and rose acacia. These plants actually have very strong, fibrous weed systems and they do a lot of shading,” he said.

This year, the DOT has hired three contractors – Basham Tree Service of Vassalboro, Asplundh Tree Service of Westport and Forests by Design of Old Town – to spray herbicides. The work began on June 18.

None of the contractors’ roadside applicators are required to wear facemasks. “We honestly don’t feel the need for it. We feel it’s a personal issue,” Moosmann said.

Kathleen McGee, director of the Maine Toxics Action Coalition, disagrees, saying the workers need to wear protection to guard against spray drift.

“Absolutely, that’s the way to go,” she said. The effects of inhaling pesticides spray are cumulative and show up years later in liver and respiratory system damage, McGee said.

The coalition also wants the state’s pesticides use curtailed and eventually eliminated, even though ridding the rights of way of unwanted vegetation manually would be labor-intensive and more costly than the current approach.