Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Westford health officials plan pilot to reduce rodenticide use after wildlife deaths
Summary
After residents and a wildlife rehabilitator described wildlife deaths linked to rodenticides, the Westford Health Department announced a pilot at the Cameron Senior Center to replace bait stations with mechanical traps and said it will overhaul the town pesticide-use policy to remove an old exemption. Residents and committees offered to help.
The Westford Board of Health on May 11 moved to investigate replacing rodenticide bait stations on town property after staff and residents raised concerns about secondary poisoning of wildlife.
Ray, the town’s health director, told the board that Westford’s existing pesticide-use policy bans rodenticides for town property but contains an exemption that allows “pesticides contained in baits or traps for the purpose of rodent control.” He said that clause appears to date back roughly 20 years and that the health department, facilities and the assistant town manager are preparing a pilot program at the Cameron Senior Center to see whether bait boxes can be removed and replaced with mechanical traps. “They are suggesting… between 6 and 12…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
