Last week the Addison Independent ran an article about the BLSG lawsuit. This was the only news article the paper published in a period of multiple editorials and letters to the editor about the subject. Both editorials and one letter claimed that there was much misinformation at the Moosalamoo Woods & Waters website without ever citing an example of even a typo.
Here are some of the factual errors in the recent Addison Independent article, the only news article the newspaper has published recently about BLSG.
- “A handful of residents led by Chris Fastie” (I am not the leader of anything, nor was I the first to speak out about this issue. The reporter might be confusing “leader” with “louder.”
- The lawsuit is “challenging the operating procedures” (No, it’s challenging BLSG’s application for a permit.)
- “District is asking for a legal budget of $25,000…” (Okay, but the BLSG District does not ask for a budget it makes one up then asks for money.)
- “…compared to $20,344 it spent in 2018” (The reporter is comparing the 2019-2020 budget to the 2018-2019 expenditures. The legal budget in 2018-2019 was $150.)
- “lawsuit…alleging that BLSG did not follow strict protocols for releasing pesticides” (That is not what the lawsuit is about, it’s about an incomplete and inadequate permit application.)
- “Toxic Action Center (sic) is handling the case for the plaintiffs pro bono” (Uninformed nonsense, TAC is not a law firm, TAC is the plaintiff.)
- “Fastie is…opponent of spraying of the adult pesticides” (I explicitly told the reporter I do not oppose pesticide spraying, and I have never said or written that I do.)
- Fastie and “Woody Little of Leicester” are members of MW&W (Woody has never lived anywhere near Leicester.)
- Fastie “would not say who the other” members were (I explicitly told the reporter that MW&W did not have members or membership.)
- “An additional $5,500—roughly the cost of the additional legal fees anticipated this year” (This makes no sense at all, $5,500 is Salisbury’s share of the ca. $30,000 anticipated legal fees.)
- TAC made “demands during negotiations” (What part of negotiation does the reporter not grasp?)
- “Claudette laid in the hospital unconscious for two months” in 1989 (Dr. Lawton says one week.)
These are just some of the errors in a single newspaper article. Why is a newspaper falsely accusing others of its own failings (what’s the term for that)? More importantly, why is there so much misinformation about BLSG and its activities? Is there an honest difference of opinion or is someone deliberately presenting alternative facts? The community deserves to know.