Grower petitioning for Baldacci’s help

MARSHFIELD – A Marshfield man with 75 acres of blueberry land in Washington County is circulating a petition intended for Gov. John Baldacci, asking for support and intervention in bringing the state’s blueberry industry back into balance.

Ivan Hanscom has been spending portions of every day gathering signatures among the state’s other 500-plus growers since Nov. 18. That’s when a Knox County Superior Court civil jury awarded $18.6 million in damages against Maine’s three largest blueberry processors, charged with price fixing between the 1996 and 1999 seasons.

Hanscom wants Baldacci to exert his influence and get industry leaders representing both sides of the lawsuit issue talking again.

The last line in Hanscom’s 10-sentence petition reads: “Given the importance of the industry to our state and the dire consequences that are likely to arise if this judgment is enforced, we request your immediate help.”

“My aim is to get the governor involved if possible,” Hanscom said Monday. “He’s the one with influence who can get the industry people talking to each other.”

Hanscom, 69, is a businessman with an office products store in Machias and a sand and gravel company in Jonesboro. With 75 acres of fields in Harrington, Columbia Falls and Jonesboro, he has grown blueberries on the side for more than 30 years.

He has been contacting other growers one by one. He checks in with his businesses each morning, then heads out to talk up the petition among growers.

By his count, the petition is going well. He doesn’t yet have an indication of how many growers have signed on to bring in Baldacci, but he feels positive about his efforts so far.

He said, however, “I could use some help” in moving the petition along among growers in areas where he doesn’t know everyone.

Hanscom, who sells his fruit to Cherryfield Foods, was one of several growers who took the witness stand on behalf of the processors.

He needed no more than two minutes, he said, to identify himself and his livelihood and confirm that he did not believe the processors had engaged in price fixing.

Hanscom acknowledges that growers are divided as to whether they agree with the court’s finding that the processors engaged in price fixing. Yet he seeks signatures from any grower who realizes that the decision has an adverse impact that affects both growers and processors.

The court’s automatic tripling of the $18.6 million in damages would harm the industry, Hanscom wrote in the petition.

“We are convinced that if faced with such a liability, these processors will cease to exist, making it difficult, if not impossible, for us to find a dependable buyer for our berries,” the petition reads.

Hanscom can be reached at 255-8611 or (800) 660-8611.