CAMDEN, Maine – Suspicious deaths in an idyllic coastal community and detective work that points to a poison sound like themes from a classic murder mystery. But the victims of this Maine whodunit were trees blocking a wealthy family’s oceanfront view, supposedly felled by wealthy killers who, though ostracized and publicly shamed, remain free.
Wealth and arrogance fuel the story of a politically connected Missouri couple who allegedly poisoned their neighbor’s trees to secure their million-dollar view of Camden Harbor. The incident, which was discovered by the victim herself, the philanthropic wife of the late president of LL Bean, has united the outrage of local residents.
To make matters worse, the herbicide used to poison the trees leaked into a neighboring park and the city’s only public coastal beach. The state attorney general is now investigating.
“As far as I’m concerned, anyone foolish enough to poison trees right next to the ocean should be prosecuted,” said Paul Hodgson, echoing many exasperated residents in Camden, a community of 5,000 located at the foot of mountains that Glide up from the Atlantic Ocean and see a harbor filled with lobster boats, yachts and schooners.
If this were a made-for-television drama, the story set against the backdrop of this quaint town would have it all: wealthy out-of-state villains, a detective member of the venerable LL Bean family, and the same powerful chemical used. to avenge Alabama’s loss on the football field to archrival Auburn.
Amelia Bond, former executive director of the St. Louis Foundation, which oversees charitable funds with more than $500 million in assets, brought the herbicide from Missouri in 2021 and applied it near oak trees on Lisa Gorman’s waterfront property, wife of the deceased León. Gorman, president of LL Bean and LL’s own grandson, according to a pair of consent agreements with the city and the state pesticide board.
Bond’s husband, Arthur Bond III, is an architect and nephew of former U.S. Senator Kit Bond. His summer home, owned by a trust, is located directly behind Gorman’s house, further up the hill.
When trees and other vegetation began to die, Amelia Bond told Gorman in June 2022 that the tree didn’t look right and offered to share the cost of removing them, Gorman’s attorney wrote in a document.
Instead, Gorman had the trees analyzed. Lawyers soon intervened.
After more than $1.7 million in fines and settlements, the trees are gone and the view of the harbor from Bond’s house has improved. But the chemical leaked into a neighboring park and beach, leaving the Bonds potentially on the hook for further monitoring and remediation, and Maine’s attorney general agreed to further investigate the incident.
The herbicide, Tebuthiuron, was the same one used in 2010 by an angry Alabama football fan to kill oak trees at Toomer’s Corner at Auburn University following a Crimson Tide loss to their archrival. The incident earned a prison sentence for Harvey Updyke, who admitted to poisoning the trees.
Tebuthiuron contaminates the soil and does not decompose, so it continues to kill plants. At Auburn University, the removal of approximately 1,780 tons (1,615 metric tons) of contaminated material was necessary to achieve negligible levels of the chemical in the soil.
Short of removing the soil, the only other solution is dilution: waiting for nature to reduce the herbicide concentration to plant-safe levels. It could take six months to two years before it is diluted enough that it no longer endangers plants, said Scott McElroy, an Auburn professor specializing in weed science and herbicide chemistry.
Back in Maine, Tom Hedstrom, chairman of the Select Board, said his job typically requires finding consensus on how to proceed with sensitive political issues. But this time it is not necessary because the residents are united in their anger.
Hedstrom said he, too, is appalled by the behavior.
“Wealth and power do not always go hand in hand with intelligence, education and morals,” he said. “This was atrocious and disgusting, and whatever other words you want to use to describe abhorrent behavior.”
The Bonds have paid a price for their actions, which they acknowledged in the consent agreements.
They paid $4,500 to resolve Maine Pesticide Control Board violations for unauthorized use of a herbicide that was inappropriately applied and not permitted for residential use, $180,000 to resolve violations with the city, and another $30,000 for additional environmental testing. , according to the documents. They also paid more than $1.5 million to Gorman in a legal settlement, according to a memo from Jeremy Martin, the city’s director of planning and development.
A lawyer for the Bonds said they had no comment but “continue to take the allegations against them seriously.” “They continue to cooperate with the City of Camden, State of Maine and the Gormans, as they have for the past two years.”
A lawyer for Gorman declined to comment.
Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, said she intends to address the maximum $4,500 fine that the Maine Pesticide Control Board was allowed to assess. One of her ideas is a sliding scale that takes into account the extent of harm and intent.
“It makes me very angry,” Doudera said. “This situation, the moment I found out about it, I thought, ‘Wow! These people are going to get a slap on the wrist. “That’s just not right.”
On a recent afternoon, no one was at Bond’s residence as people walked their dogs less than 500 feet (150 meters) away at Laite Memorial Beach, where the herbicide that is lethal to aquatic plants was detected.
Camden resident Dwight Johnson described as “shady” the way Amelia Bond pretended to be a good neighbor by offering to share the costs of removing trees she had poisoned. Lynn Harrington, another town resident, questioned whether the Bonds would be able to show their faces around town, where they are members of the Camden Yacht Club.
Some residents say the episode fits the well-worn stereotype of wealthy summer residents “from afar” (Maine’s term for outsiders) trampling over full-time residents.
But some residents objected to viewing the summer residents as troublemakers.
Hodgson said Camden is not without its rule-breaking characters in a community where there are many year-round residents who are wealthy and entitled. He said some residents of the community where the median income is just under $93,000 (high for Maine, New England’s poorest state) are known to cut down trees, knowing it is illegal.
“They just pay the fine because they have a lot of money,” Hodgson said. “That’s the city we live in.”
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