Helping to Protect Our Quality of Life on Cape Cod
Would you like to help Cape Cod towns
REDUCE
Pesticides & Fertilizer use in 2025?
Help support important bills! Each email letter counts!
Show your much needed support by writing The Committee by November 10, 2025 @ 5pm.
The Joint committee of Environment and Natural Resource
JointCommittee.Environment@malegislature.gov.
The Joint Committee of Environment and Natural Resources at The Massachusetts State house
Is open to written testimony for #30 important Bills: pollinator protection, rodenticide ban, pesticides, mosquito controls. Emails don't have to be long to count but please give a strong reason to The Joint Committee by backing up your reason with a link to a science study or graph with the creator’s name, to show a strong message. Thank you. Click on the link below for bills:
https://malegislature.gov/Events/Hearings/Detail/5442
Please support these #2 Pesticides Bills because they are written stronger than other bills. They are for all pesticides, not just one type, like rodenticides or neonics or mosquito controls. The below two bills include all outdoor pesticide use: herbicides, rodenticides, fungicides, insecticides. Please ask The Committee to move them forward:
#H. 995 – Orleans Pesticide Reduction Home Rule Petition
#H. 4191 – Wellfleet Pesticide Reduction Home Rule Petition
The language in them is: you can use any pesticide inside your own home, on yourself, your kids and pets – but no pesticide use outside, because they travel in the air, water and soil. The problem with pesticides is they travel. And unfortunately, they are killing the natural predators of the ‘pests’ themselves. For example, we spray for mosquito control, which then kills bats, the creatures actually keeping them in check. This also kills the native pollinators we need in order to survive. Another example: we put out poison in traps for mice and the owl dies when eating the mouse, then the owl family dies. One owl eats over 3,000 mice yearly. Again, we are killing what kills the ‘pest’ naturally. These unintended consequences need to stop. Your testimony really counts! You are allowed to support #8 different bills before November 10th, 2025. Please write an email today and share this with your circles. Collectively we will make a difference!
A simple example testimony sent by email:
NOTE: In your email, put the Bill number in the ‘subject’ line, for example:
“Support Bill #H.995 and #H.4191”
Dear Joint Committee of Environment and Natural Resources:
My name is_________. I live in (what town)_____. I support Bill’s #H.995 and #H.4191 would you as well? Cape Cod towns want to reduce pesticide use, please allow them to. (add your reasons - to protect water, oysters, people, etc, add a link to a science study, add a graph if you can. We live above an aquifer; the health of our land, resources, longevity, etc), is up to you, The Committee to take this step. The depth to our drinking water is 25 feet below us on average and we have sandy, silt as soil. These #2 Bills allows towns to do more to help protect our greatest natural resources here. Thank you for your time and support on these very important matters. We need your help now. Please move them forward “favorably” out of Committee. Thank you.
Sincerely, (your name and address)____________________ Date ___________
Any questions? Contact Laura Kelley poccacapecod@gmail.com ~ thank you for caring!
​
​
​
​
How it started,
Orleans citizens voted and passed the Fertilizer REDUCTION Home Rule Petition (HRP) 2022. Then in 2023, Orleans citizens passed the Pesticide REDUCTION HRP. Soon after, Eastham resident, Laura Kelley, brought the same language to Eastham and Wellfleet both in the Spring of 2024, and they both passed the Pesticide reduction HRP!
That means, so far three Cape Cod towns want the opportunity to reduce pesticides in their town! This is history changing!
Would you like to help?
Copy and paste the same language below and email it to your town Select Board members requesting these petitions be on your Town Meeting Warrant for town citizens to have the opportunity to vote and decide for themselves what is best for your town - let the voters decide and allow this language on your town meeting Warrant today.
​
​
1 - Pesticide Reduction Home Rule Petition
https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/1404/Home-Rule-Petition-Article
2 - Fertilizer Reduction Home Rule Petition
https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/1120/Home-Rule-Petition-Warrant-Article
For more information, please visit the link below and learn more:
https://www.town.orleans.ma.us/1129/Letters-of-Support
​
All 15 Assembly of Delegate members
voted 100% in favor for these petitions to move forward. That means the person who your town chose to represent your town for Barnstable County level matters has agreed this language is good. See their words:
​
​
For questions, if you want to get involved in your town, please reach out to Laura Kelley at: poccacapecod@gmail.com
Thank you again for caring to do all you can to help reduce pesticide and fertilizer use in your town today!
​​
​
​
ALL INFORMATION is on Orleans Town website,
please click on "Explore" below:
​
​​
​​
​
​
In January 2025, Orleans refiled their home rule petitions
​
Please read them on the Mass. State House website:
​
Fertilizer Reduction home rule petition:
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/HD1573
Pesticide Reduction home rule petition:
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/194/HD1574
​​
​
​
WATER is the most precious natural resource we have
We have a great responsibility living above an aquifer!
What products you purchase for inside or outside of your home matters.
Everything that goes down your sinks, toilets, and laundry leaches though The Cape's sandy soil,
it is said, a foot a day on average. Make wise choices!
Another great way you can help, please sign the petition below.
This is very important because it shows power in numbers and will go to our Governor Healey.
No matter what town you live in you can sign it, thank you very much:
https://www.change.org/p/protect-our-environment-reduce-pesticide-use-in-orleans-ma
​​​
Our Mission
POCCA's mission is to educate residents, businesses and public agencies of Cape Cod how to keep our drinking water safe by eliminating the use of hazardous chemicals in our environment. We believe education is the key to the longevity of drinkable water. With a few simple shifts in our own daily routines, it will make all the difference!
We are fortunate our drinkable water is below us because it doesn't travel very far
but with that comes a greater responsibility of protection.
Will you join the mission to help protect water here?
​​
Every day the choices you make matter, what you purchase, where you purchase and how much you use. If each of us would do 3 things every day, collectively we would make huge change: purchase foods and essentials at local farmers markets, this supports our next generations here, don't purchase anything toxic, we live above where we drink (shampoo, soaps, detergents, pesticides), and lastly recycle 100% or it will end up in an ocean. See our products page for more detailed information ~
President, Laura Kelley receives Cape and Islands Democratic Award on April 27, 2019, her speech:
Pruning Party with GOATS on Power Lines in Harwich
​
~ IT'S OUR WATER AFTER ALL ~
Please join the mission by lessening the amount of products
you purchase and use above our aquifer ~ Thank you!
This map below shows the depth to our drinkable water.
Cape Cod has 6 lenses, 5 are drinkable. The pink lines show where the ROW power lines are throughout Cape Cod, this is where Eversource uses herbicides to maintain vegetation over growth. There are other ways to protect electric wires that are cost effective and less toxic to our natural resources and thus, us. 17 Cape and MV towns have asked they don't use herbicides on our land.
​
~ Our Programs ~
The POCCA team educates about this important issue that affects us all: To prevent EVERSOURCE Energy from spraying herbicides along Rights-of-Way power lines on Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard to keep vegetation from harming electricity but there are better ways. Watch this video, it shows what they are doing on our land despite 17 towns writing documents against it from occurring again.
POCCA team members love to come and present pertinent information about our water supply and environmental issues to your group. We offer meetings with informative speakers to discuss emerging contaminants and the hydrology of our aquifer to explain what’s going on below the surface and how important it is to us.
Learn how to lessen your impact on our aquifer by changing your every day habits! Visit the 'how you can help' page to see examples that are cost effective and simple solutions that will make a big difference in nature.
Thank you for your kind donation
