ROCKPORT — On Feb. 27, the seven-member Maine Board of Pesticides Control will revisit a Rockport case of tree poisoning on harbor front land, and consider revised action against 9 Mechanic Street homeowner Stephen Antonson. This presents a different closure to an investigation that began five years ago and resulted in national news coverage, just as a similar tree poisoning case in Camden elicited public condemnation.

The 9 a.m. meeting will take place in Augusta, and the agenda item concerns a February 2, 2026 consent agreement that, if approved, will replace existing language in a previous consent agreement that dates back to March 2025.

In advance of the Friday meeting, the owner of the land whose trees were poisoned wrote a letter to the BPC, saying: "If the Antonsons are prepared to acknowledge responsibility, then the State of Maine fine should be paid. The Antonsons would gift an additional sum of their choice to a suitable charitable entity in Rockport or the County that is devoted to preservation.  An example is The Coastal Mountain Land Trust, an entity that our mother supported. The charitable donation would be made in recognition of Ruth Graham.  And finally, the Antonsons would find a way to correspond with a local newspaper or similar channel of communication expressing their thoughts in their own words. 

"If such an arrangement finds acceptance, our family would forgo further consideration of civil action.

"This satisfies a sense of accountability. It gives everyone, including the Antonsons closure. It gives the Antonsons a way to regain their reputation. And it lets everyone move on with their lives. Bygones can be bygones for everyone and trees will grow back."

Almost one year ago, the BPC denied the 2025 consent agreement concerning a stand of trees on private harbor front property in Rockport that had been injected with chemicals at their root collars in Autumn 2021 and Autumn 2023 and left to die. The motive, as as attributed by the BPC in the consent agreement, was a desire for improved ocean views.

"No person may apply a pesticide to the property of another unless prior authorization for the pesticide application has obtained from the owner, manager, or legal occupant of that property," the BPC said.

The BPC discussed the case at length at its March 14, 2025 meeting, probing staff about the details of an investigation that had been underway since 2021. That was when a son of Ruth Graham, who is now deceased, first noticed the trees behind a home next door on Mechanic Street were dying. Following Graham's 2024 death, her trust now owns the property.

That waterfront parcel runs behind the Antonson property down to the shore of Rockport Harbor and was populated by evergreens and hardwood.

Following the investigation, the State of Maine crafted the 2025 proposed agreement with Graham's neighbor, Stephen Antonson, of Rockport, citing the alleged unauthorized applications of pesticides Imazapic and Triclopyr. The agreement carried a $3,000 fine (the most the state can apply in herbicide and pesticide illegal applications), plus other stipulations.

"While Antonson denies any involvement in the herbicide applications to the trees at 11 Mechanic Street in Rockport, the Board finds that the positioning of the affected trees in addition to prior correspondence from the Antonsons to the Grahams requesting tree removal indicate that Antonson would have been the only one to benefit from the application of herbicides to the affected area," the BPC wrote, in its 2025 case summary.

The State of Maine's agreement contained a clause that read, "25) That while Antonson does not admit the alleged violations, and while he disputes the facts and conclusions alleged by the Board in Paragraphs 1 through 24 above, he agrees to enter into this Consent Agreement for the purpose of resolving the alleged violations."

The BPC, however, balked at signing the consent agreement, and the March 14, 2025 conversation included board discussion about additional enforcement measures that could be taken, though not by state statutes governing its agency.

Damaged property was cited, as well as the misuse of pesticides on someone else's property without permission, and application of nonregistered products.

The case of Camden's tree poisoning was referenced multiple times at that 2025 meeting, as well as the chemical properties of the various herbicides that had been applied illegally in both towns.

"Here it is," said BCP member Phillip Fanning, in 2025: "For the purposes of the board and moving forward, there is only one thing we can do: We could tell the staff to take this back and strike the statement that omits guilt and ask for it to be signed again before we accept. That is all we can do. If we just table it and say go find another penalty, it is not going to be found. So if our heartburn is because that statement is in there then our only option today would be that we are going to vote to accept this, we are going to send this back and tell them to get this statement out of there, if they can. If they cannot, then we turn it over to the Attorney Generals' office, if that is what you decide to do."

A motion to not accept the consent agreement was made, with the resulting 5 to 1 vote.

One year later, the updated consent agreement states:

"A previous version of the Consent Agreement was presented to the Board on March 14, 2025. The Board voted unanimously to disapprove the Agreement due, in part, to language in the Agreement stating that Antonson did not admit to the violations and disputed the facts and conclusions of the BPC.

"In the subsequent discussions between BPC and Antonson’s legal counsel, they agreed to update the Agreement with language indicating that, even though he continues to dispute the Board’s conclusions and not admit guilt, 'Antonson acknowledges that a court could find that he committed the violations and he agrees to enter into this Consent Agreement for the purpose of resolving the alleged violations….'"

"Additionally, Antonson submitted a check to BPC with full payment of the proposed $3,000 fine.

"Board staff believes that this updated language and submission of the maximum penalty amount allowed at the time of the violation provide the public with a reasonably agreeable resolution to this matter, given the constraints of state regulations at the time the violation was committed, as well as considerations of BPC staff resources spent on this matter. Furthermore, the updated Agreement does not shield Mr. Antonson from possible civil action.

"Board staff believes that recent state legislation that greatly increased fines for committing similar violations should help deter anyone else from this manner of pesticide misuse."

New state statute

In 2025, Camden-Rockport Representative Vicki Doudera presented a bill, LD 1697, An Act to Increase Penalties to Deter Violations of the Laws Regarding Improper Pesticide Use."

Its amended version received approval of the Maine Legislature, and was signed into law in June 2025 by Gov. Janet Mills.

The bill effectively increased state fines up to $50,000 for unauthorized pesticide applications by individuals.

It also:

Established a penalty schedule for violations of the laws and rules governing pesticides to create transparency for future penalties assessed;

Provided the means by which separate civil suits may be brought against the same violator of the laws and rules governing pesticides if pesticide migration through soil or bedrock occurs affecting more than one property;

Provided for the restoration of affected property and replacement of vegetation as penalties for violations of the laws and rules governing pesticides in addition to monetary penalties; and

Designated pesticides with the active ingredient tebuthiuron as state restricted use pesticides.

Antonson signed the consent agreement Feb. 2, 2026.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657