To the editor:
The Lincoln Leaf Blower Study Group recently sent a brochure to everyone in town in which it quoted a March 2014 statement by the Board of Health saying, “Exposure to high-intensity, episodic or long-duration noise and air particulate and vapor dispersion from leaf blowers represents significant potential health hazards to our citizens.”
That statement is misleading because it fails to reference the Board of Health’s December 10, 2014 statement in which it said that exposure to dust and noise generated by leaf blowers is a concern only in the paved town center and that, “in contrast, the board is much less clear that the use of leaf blowers in other areas of our town presents consistent or even frequent bystander health risks from noise or air pollution.” Other statements in the brochure suffer from a similar lack of context.
I am informed that the brochure was prepared and mailed at town expense. The brochure is obviously a prelude to an effort to enact a by-law to limit or prohibit the use of leaf blowers in Lincoln. The taxpayers of Lincoln should not be paying for campaign literature supporting an initiative that many question or oppose. Will the town pay to prepare and mail a brochure that corrects the misleading statements in the Study Group’s mailing, and to state the other side of the issue?
Sincerely,
Michael R. Coppock
214 Aspen Circle
Letters to the editor must be signed with the writer’s name and street address and sent via email to lincolnsquirrelnews@gmail.com. Letters must be about a Lincoln-specific topic, will be edited for punctuation, spelling, style, etc., and will be published at the discretion of the editor. Letters containing personal attacks, errors of fact or other inappropriate material will not be published.
Does the Board of Health consider that there are health hazards to some if leaves are not removed in a thorough and timely way? What about the deer ticks that like to lurk underneath the leaves, the allergic reactions to rotting leaves, etc.? Does the board of health pick and choose whose health needs they support with town dollars? There are also differences of opinions about viewing rotting leaves all over the place. Who has time or energy to be out there raking when they have many other things to do? What is the cost per hour of hiring people to rake leaves if there are even enough people around who do that sort of thing? How about comparing that with the health hazards associated with living close to road construction areas for three full years? Life is full of safety, noise and air pollution unpleasantness. Why focus on the particular gripes of one group of citizens?