ADDISON – In a controversy that is attracting statewide attention, this Washington County town is caught between local blueberry growers and residents who are opposed to the aerial application of pesticides.

At issue is an aerial spray ban that voters approved at a March 11 town meeting by a vote of 86-58. Supporters of the ban believe the blueberry pesticides are the cause of or contributing factor in the large number of people in the area who are suffering from or have died of cancer.

State Agriculture Commissioner Robert Spear maintains that the ordinance violates Maine’s 1981 Right-to-Farm Law because it prohibits the town’s approximately 25 wild blueberry growers from following what Spear said are best management practices for blueberries.

Best management practices are farming practices approved by the Department of Agriculture.

Despite Spear’s position, which was outlined in an April 10 letter to the town, selectmen will put a revised spray ban ordinance before the voters, Michael Murphy, chairman of the Addison selectmen, said this week.

Murphy said the revised ordinance includes an enforcement provision, and the board will decide on June 25 whether to put the issue back before the town this year or wait until the next town meeting.

Given the fact that the majority of town meeting voters favored the ban, the town does not have the option of letting the matter drop, he said.

Murphy spoke in the aftermath of a 31/2-hour public meeting Wednesday on the ordinance. The meeting was attended by more than 100 people, including representatives of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association, the Maine Farm Bureau, the Wild Blueberry Commission of Maine, the Toxics Action Center, the Clean Water Coalition, area blueberry growers and people from surrounding towns who are concerned about blueberry pesticides.

Selectmen had invited representatives of the state Department of Agriculture, including Lebelle Hicks, toxicologist for the Board of Pesticides Control; Peter Mosher, director of the Office of Agriculture, Natural and Rural Resources; and University of Maine Cooperative Extension blueberry specialist David Yarborough.

Hicks, who was asked to speak on the cancer risks of blueberry pesticides applied from the air, said seven pesticides make up 98 percent of what has been applied aerially to blueberry fields over the past two years. Of those seven, two compounds produced a high enough number of tumors in lab animals to undergo a cancer risk assessment, she said.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency considers the risks associated with chlorothaloril (Bravo; Equus) or diuran (Karmex) acceptable because lifetime exposure would result in a cancer increase of fewer than one person in a million, Hicks said.

Several people responded to Hicks’ presentation, including two local nurses who said they didn’t believe the data.

Judy Dakin said she personally had observed an increase in childhood asthma in the area and had two neighbors in their 50s who had died or are suffering from cancer.

Others questioned the accuracy of the studies, pointing out that pesticide manufacturers conducted the tests and that inert ingredients in the compounds were not tested and could include materials that are carcinogenic.

Sharon Tisher, a lawyer who teaches environmental law at the University of Maine and a representative of MOFGA, said her organization believes Addison’s ban is “a wise and thoughtful step” to protect its residents while allowing farmers to continue to apply pesticides in a way that isn’t as subject to drift.

Tisher said there are no best management practices for aerial spraying and there aren’t any best management practices for blueberry cultivation that require or recommend aerial spraying. That is why Spear was unable to refer to any documents in his letter to Addison selectmen, Tisher said.

Addison blueberry grower Marcus Norton said that rather than discussing “best management practices,” the term should be “only management practice.” Unless a grower goes out and spends $17,000 to $20,000 on equipment, the grower has no option but aerial application, Norton said.

“It is my pocket you are reaching into,” Norton told his neighbors. “You’re not bothering Cherryfield Foods and Wymans,” referring to large area businesses.

“It’s your pocketbook and your neighbor’s health,” responded Nancy Oden of the Clean Water Coalition.