{"id":234100,"date":"2024-06-19T13:32:18","date_gmt":"2024-06-19T13:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/19\/lisa-gorman-of-the-l-l-bean-family-paid-1-5m-in-maine-tree-poisoning-investigation\/"},"modified":"2025-06-25T17:16:42","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T17:16:42","slug":"lisa-gorman-of-the-l-l-bean-family-paid-1-5m-in-maine-tree-poisoning-investigation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michigandigitalnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/06\/19\/lisa-gorman-of-the-l-l-bean-family-paid-1-5m-in-maine-tree-poisoning-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Lisa Gorman, of the L.L. Bean family, paid $1.5m in Maine tree-poisoning investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Suspicious deaths in an idyllic seaside community and detective work that points to poison sound like themes from a classic murder mystery. But the victims in this Maine whodunnit were trees that stood in the way of a wealthy family\u2019s oceanfront view, allegedly felled by well-heeled killers who, while ostracized and publicly shamed, remain free.<\/p>\n

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Wealth and hubris fuel the tale of a politically connected Missouri couple who allegedly poisoned their neighbor\u2019s trees to secure their million-dollar view of Camden Harbor. The incident that was unearthed by the victim herself \u2014 the philanthropic wife of L.L. Bean\u2019s late president \u2014 has united local residents in outrage.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, the herbicide used to poison the trees leached into a neighboring park and the town\u2019s only public seaside beach. The state attorney general is now investigating.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody dumb enough to poison trees right next to the ocean should be prosecuted, as far as I\u2019m concerned,\u201d said Paul Hodgson, echoing the view of many exasperated residents in Camden, a community of 5,000 nestled at the foot of mountains that sweep upward from the Atlantic Ocean and overlook a harbor filled with lobster boats, yachts and schooners.<\/p>\n

If this were a made-for-TV drama, the story set against the backdrop of this quaint village would have it all: Wealthy out-of-state villains, a sleuthing member of the venerable L.L. Bean family, and the same powerful chemical used to avenge Alabama\u2019s loss on the football field to archrival Auburn.<\/p>\n

Amelia Bond, former CEO of the St. Louis Foundation, which oversees charitable funds with more than $500 million in assets, brought the herbicide from Missouri in 2021 and applied it near oak trees on the waterfront property of Lisa Gorman, wife of the late Leon Gorman, L.L. Bean\u2019s president and grandson of L.L. himself, according to a pair of consent agreements with the town and the state pesticide board.<\/p>\n

Bond\u2019s husband, Arthur Bond III, is an architect and the nephew of former U.S. Sen. Kit Bond. Their summer home, owned by a trust, is situated directly behind Gorman\u2019s home, farther up the hill.<\/p>\n

When the trees and other vegetation began dying, Amelia Bond told Gorman in June 2022 that the tree didn\u2019t look good and offered to share the cost of removing them, Gorman\u2019s lawyer wrote in a document.<\/p>\n

Instead, Gorman had the trees tested. Soon, lawyers were involved.<\/p>\n

More than $1.7 million in fines and settlements later, the trees are now gone and the harbor view from the Bond\u2019s home is improved. But the chemical has leached into a neighboring park and beach, leaving the Bonds potentially on the hook for further monitoring and remediation, and Maine\u2019s attorney general has agreed to further investigate the incident.<\/p>\n

The herbicide \u2014 Tebuthiuron \u2014 was the same one used in\u00a02010 by an angry Alabama football fan to kill the Toomer\u2019s Corner oak trees<\/a>\u00a0at Auburn University, following a Crimson Tide loss to their archrival. The incident earned jail time for Harvey Updyke, who acknowledged poisoning the trees.<\/p>\n

Tebuthiuron contaminates soil and doesn\u2019t break down, so it continues to kill plants. At Auburn University, it took the removal of about 1,780 tons (1,615 metric tons) of contaminated material to achieve negligible levels of the chemical in the soil.<\/p>\n

Short of removing the soil, the only other solution is dilution \u2014 waiting for nature to thin out the concentration of the herbicide to safe levels for plants. It could take six months to two years for it to be diluted enough to no longer endanger to plants, said Scott McElroy, an Auburn professor specializing in weed science and herbicide chemistry.<\/p>\n

Back in Maine, Tom Hedstrom, chair of the Select Board, said his job typically requires finding consensus on how to proceed with delicate political matters. But this time there is no need because residents are united in their anger.<\/p>\n

Hedstrom said he, too, is appalled by the behavior.<\/p>\n

\u201cWealth and power don\u2019t always go hand in hand with intelligence, education and morals,\u201d he said. \u201cThis was atrocious and gross and any other word you want to use to describe abhorrent behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Bonds have paid a price for their actions, which they acknowledged in the consent agreements.<\/p>\n

They paid $4,500 to resolve Maine Board of Pesticides Control Board violations for unauthorized use of an herbicide that was applied inappropriately and not allowed for residential use, $180,000 to resolve violations with the town and another $30,000 for additional environmental testing, according to documents. They also paid more than $1.5 million to Gorman in a legal settlement, according to a memo from Jeremy Martin, the town\u2019s planning and development director.<\/p>\n

A lawyer for the Bonds said they have no comment, but they \u201ccontinue to take the allegations against them seriously. They continue to cooperate with the town of Camden, state of Maine and the Gormans, as they have done over the last two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lawyer for Gorman declined comment.<\/p>\n

Rep. Vicki Doudera, D-Camden, said she intends to address the $4,500 maximum fine that the Maine Board of Pesticide Control Board was allowed to assess. One of her ideas is a sliding scale that accounts for scope of damage and intent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes me so livid,\u201d Doudera said. \u201cThis situation, the minute I heard about it, I thought, \u2019Wow! These people are going to get a slap on the wrist. That\u2019s just not right.\u201d<\/p>\n

On a recent afternoon, no one was home at the Bond\u2019s residence while people walked their dogs less than 500 feet (150 meters) away on Laite Memorial Beach, where the herbicide that\u2019s lethal to aquatic plants has been detected.<\/p>\n

Camden resident Dwight Johnson described as \u201cunderhanded\u201d the way Amelia Bond feigned being a good neighbor by offering to share the costs of removing trees that she\u2019d poisoned. Lynn Harrington, another town resident, questioned whether the Bonds could show their faces around town, where they are members of the Camden Yacht Club.<\/p>\n

Some residents say the episode fits with the well-worn stereotype of wealthy summer residents \u201cfrom away\u201d \u2014 the Maine term for outsiders \u2014 running roughshod over full-time residents.<\/p>\n

But some residents pushed back against casting summer residents as trouble makers.<\/p>\n

Hodgson said Camden is not without its own rule-bending characters in a community where there are plenty of year-round residents who are both wealthy and entitled. He said some residents in the community where the median income is just under $93,000 \u2014 high for Maine, the poorest state in New England \u2014 have been known to cut down trees, knowing it\u2019s illegal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just pay the fine because they have plenty of money,\u201d Hodgson said. \u201cThat\u2019s the town we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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