Ned Lamont declined to be interviewed for this story

was that wrong? should i not have done that?

Wealthy Maine couple accused of killing neighbor’s trees to secure ocean view, poisoning public beach in the process

Two Maine millionaires are bickering in court over accusations that one poisoned the other's trees to score the ultimate ocean view — and that in doing so, a lethal herbicide leached into their small community's only public beach.  

Lisa Gorman, wife of the late LL Bean president Leon Gorman, claims that her neighbor applied herbicide to her oak trees without consent in 2021, The Associated Press reported. 

Neighbor Amelia Bond, former CEO of St. Louis Foundation, then offered to split the cost to remove the dying trees from the front of the Camden home in 2022, according to legal documents reviewed by the AP. This gave Bond an unobstructed view of Penobscot Bay, an idyllic harbor filled with lobster boats, yachts and schooners. 

The destruction didn't stop at the Gorman property. Herbicide Tebuthiuron spread next door to the town's only public seaside beach, prompting a legal investigation. Residents were seen walking their dogs just 500 feet away from the soil where the herbicide, lethal to aquatic plants, was detected, according to the AP. 

Bond and her husband, Arthur Bond III, an architect whose aunt is former U.S. Sen. Kit Bond, have paid thousands to the state and $1.5 million to Gorman, the town's planning and development director told the AP. Most acknowledged that the fabulously wealthy part-time residents "from away" — the Mainer's expression for out-of-towners — have enough money to comfortably shoulder fines and get away with their actions. 

"They just pay the fine because they have plenty of money," Hodgson said. "That’s the town we live in."

Then again, there’s this:

The herbicide at the center of the skirmish, Tebuthiuron, was also used by an angry Alabama football fan to avenge his team's loss by killing oak trees at rival Auburn in 2010. 

That fan, Harvey Updyke, admitted to poisoning the trees and received jail time, the AP reported. 

[Three year sentence, minimum six months served, five years probation.]