Montville digs in its heels

The town of Montville, which passed an ordinance at town meeting banning the planting of biotech-enhanced crops, is girding for battle with the state. In April, the Department of Agriculture and the Maine Board of Pesticides Control sent letters to the town advising them the ordinance violated several provisions of state law. On May 13, Montville selectmen responded to Agriculture Commissioner Seth Bradstreet claiming Maine's right to farm law does not apply to the ordinance. In their view, Montville enacted a "valid municipal ordinance" in an exercise of "municipal sovereignty." The town has not responded to the Board of Pesticides Control.

Commissioner Bradstreet's letter of April 10 stated that 17MRSA 2805(4) requires the town to send the department a copy of the ordinance for review 90 days before the scheduled vote. Since that did not take place, the ordinance is "invalid" in the eyes of the state.

The letter from Henry Jennings, director of the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, advised the town it had a responsibility to submit the proposed ordinance to the BPC seven days in advance of the vote under 22 MRSA, Section 1471-U. The BPC has jurisdiction because one of the banned biotech crops is insect-resistant corn, a plant that is regulated in Maine as a pesticide. As a result, Jennings declared the ordinance to be "null and void."

In its letter, Montville officials advanced the interesting theory that the state right to farm law prohibits towns from banning "farm operations," whereas the ordinance banned "products." And since the law requires advance notice of ordinances that impact farm operations, advance notice of an ordinance banning a product is not required. Since the statute makes a clear distinction between "products" and "operations," the selectmen concluded, "we believe the statute was not intended to apply to 'products.'"

The town's response begs the question of the Board of Pesticides Control's ruling that the ordinance is "null and void," but it is clear, Montville does not intend to cave in as other towns have done on this issue.

(For more information on this controversy, go to www.mainebioinfo.org )