PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 2, 2021
The Maine Legislature is considering a bill to ban aerial application of an herbicide used by large forest management companies for decades that has been linked to cancer and environmental damage. L.D. 125, sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, D-Allagash, seeks to prohibit aerial application of the plant killer glyphosate and other synthetic herbicides often used in combination with clear-cutting to manage the tree species that grow on industrial forestland. The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health Organization, classified it as a probable human carcinogen in 2015. The measure has the support of dozens of environmental advocates, the state’s organic farming community, fishing guides and others. Opponents included the Maine Forest Service.