To the Editor:

A group of Wareham residents is seeking to overturn last fall’s Town Meeting vote to create a nitrogen bylaw. We would like to explain why you should vote to repeal that bylaw, and not just because it could cost you thousands of dollars.

First, a little background: About 40 volunteers spent six months last year quietly working to create a plan for protecting the quality of the Buzzards Bay waters around Wareham. The resulting plan was flawed and not all of us agreed with it in the end, but it set out a process for reaching consensus and taking action. We all agreed that working together with town officials and informing the public were the two keys to real action.

Just one day after the plan was presented to the Board of Selectmen, a member of the committee hijacked the process and took it upon himself to write his own bylaw and present it to Town Meeting. He misled the voters by saying his "action was supported by this consensus group as well as the Coalition for Buzzards Bay”. Debate was silenced before members of the consensus group could speak. Based on this misinformation, the bylaw passed.

You say you never heard of this “consensus group”? That’s because we never got to the public education part.

Nor did we work with town officials. Now the Board of Health is in the unfortunate position of trying to implement an unenforceable bylaw and standards that cannot be met.

We would like to repeal the bylaw and get this process back on track towards real solutions. You can help the continued effort by attending Town Meeting on Monday, April 25 and voting “yes” to repeal the bylaw.

Please vote.

Bob Brady, volunteer, Nitrogen Task Force.

East Wareham