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To: Senator Stacy Brenner, Chr and Representative Ralph Tucker, Chr Joint Committee on Environment and Natural Resources
Re: LD 489 A Resolution to Amend the Maine Constitution
From: Becky Layton Bartovics
Date: March 8, 2021
Dear Senator Brenner, Representative Tucker and Members of ENR, I am writing you on my own behalf of Sierra Club Maine’s more than 20,000 members and supporters. We are one of 64 Sierra Club Chapters nationally which represent almost 4 million members and supporters. Our mission is explore, protect and enjoy our natural environment. I also write as a grandmother of five young Mainers to urge you to vote ought to pass the RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine To Establish a Right to a Healthy Environment, known as the Pine Tree Amendment. This Constitutional Amendment would give teeth to the Precautionary Priniciple, in all things Do No Harm.1
In 2006, Brookings Institute evaluated the future of Maine’s economy and recommended taking stock of the unique qualities of our environment which have a far greater potential to take us forward into the future if we treat them respectfully. . We have been through a 2 period of tilting more towards business interests and have seen dramatic declines in our resources.
As a water person, I feel the damage to wetlands and water resources viscerally. Life on earth and civilizations have depended on1% of potable water for millennia. That water has cycled through all the generations before us, but there are no new sources. Maine has the advantage of ample water in the forms of vernal pools, lakes, streams and rivers all of which feed the bottom of the food chains on up. However we are also allowing pollution to permanently impact that resource by issuing waivers of our environmental laws and taking advantage without adequate consideration. Citizens are increasingly required to hold governments accountable with few positive outcomes. To be in balance, we have to protect those resources if we hope to survive the dramatic climatic changes we are already seeing. I ask myself if we are going to leave potable water to keep life alive into the future even of those young now alive much less those yet to come.
I live on an island in Penobscot Bay, so the waters of the Penobscot River surround and feed the benthic habitat my family and many islanders depend on. Our Bay is a beautiful world wide resource as the Penobscot River feeds the gyres of the Bay creating a potentially vast web of life that moves nutrients out into the Gulf of Maine. The upstream wetlands, streams and lakes are part of that system we depend upon. We’ve seen the benefits of dam removals that allow a free flowing river to promote anadromous fish species to rebound. Nevertheless we are also allowing serious environmental hazards to damage those resources. For example, the leachate released into the River through an old sewage system designed to deal with paper waste, not the toxic mix of out of state waste at Juniper Ridge that Casella Waste Management is able to magically turn into in state waste in Lewiston is unregulated. What impact are those wastes having on the juvenile species and the phytoplankton and diatoms they feed on. What impact is the thermal pollution having not only on the riverine habitat but that of the Bay? If the Pine Tree Amendment were in place, there would be a mechanism for residents to hold the company and regulatory agencies accountable for adequate planning that would prevent collateral damage.
The Amendment would put the rights to clean water and air, healthy environments on a par with other rights already codified. It is an environmental justice issue and would give consideration to the cumulative impacts as part of decision making. Looking at the rest of New England, we have the greatest opportunity to leave a legacy of a sustainable environment to future generations. The grandmother and farmer in me begs you to consider future generations. Sierra Club Maine urges you add this very important Resolution to the Constitution of Maine by voting ought to pass on LD 489. Respectfully submitted, Becky Layton Bartovics Sierra Club Maine Leadership 273 North Shore Rd North Haven, ME 04853 bbartovics@gmail.com 207-867-4938