Article 96 Chiarito Main Motion

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Arlington Town Meeting - Main Motion

ARTICLE NO. 96 Dated: May 1, 2026

I, Suzanne Chiarito, do hereby submit the following Main Motion under Article 96

VOTED: That Town Meeting hereby resolves as follows:

WHEREAS, Town Meeting wishes to protect the health and welfare of Arlington, its

residents and visitors, and local wildlife, by reducing the use of first-generation

anticoagulant rodenticides (FGARS) and Bromethalin by promoting Integrated Pest

Management strategies; and

WHEREAS, house mice and Norway rats have already developed a robust resistance to

first-generation anticoagulants that necessitate repeated feedings for prolonged periods of

time, increasing chances of secondary impacts on predators species that consume these

rodents; and

WHEREAS, first-generation anticoagulants (warfarin, diphacinone, chlorophacinone) and

the neurotoxic rodenticide Bromethalin have all been confirmed in peer reviewed research

to bioaccumulate in the tissues of non-target animals after feeding on poisoned prey or

carcasses and so these poisons pose lethal threats to wildlife populations; and

WHEREAS first-generation anticoagulants have been found to have especially profound

lethal secondary impacts on Eastern Screech Owls and American Kestrels at much lower

doses than other bird species, and both species have been confirmed to nest in Arlington;

and

WHEREAS first-generation anticoagulants compromise the thermoregulation of birds of

prey and numerous hawks and owls have died in Arlington during freezing temperatures

who have tested positive for exposure to these compounds at more than trace levels;

WHEREAS a gray fox casualty in Arlington in July 2025 was confirmed to have lethal levels

of the first-generation anticoagulant chlorophacinone in its system and significant internal

bleeding associated with exposure and gray foxes are a Species of Greatest Conservation

Need in Massachusetts;

WHEREAS both companion animals and children are at heightened risks of poisoning from

both first-generation anticoagulants and Bromethalin and rates of such exposures have

been increasing in both pets and people, with confirmed dog deaths ascribed to both

FGARs and Bromethalin in the state;

WHEREAS Bromethalin was implicated in the death of a Massachusetts bald eagle in 2023

and the Town of Arlington has a vested interest in protecting its remaining resident

population of bald eagles, several of which have already succumbed to SGARs, and bald

eagles are listed as a “Species of Special Concern” under the Massachusetts Endangered

Species Act (MESA);

WHEREAS, it is in the best interest of public health to eliminate the use of toxic

rodenticides on town land, ponds and waterways, to encourage the reduction and

elimination of the use of toxic rodenticides including on Town-owned properties, and

WHEREAS, the Town finds that a balanced and healthy ecosystem is vital to the health of

the Town and its residents and visitors, and as such it is also in need of protection from

exposure to hazardous chemicals including rodenticides, including and especially on

Town-owned and managed properties;

WHEREAS, there is no peer reviewed data that supports that either first generation

anticoagulants or Bromethalin are eective at meaningfully reducing rodents at the

population level in urban and suburban ecosystems in contiguous landscapes; and

WHEREAS there are numerous alternatives for controlling rodents that do not carry the

potential risks of poisons to animals or people; these alternatives include but are not

limited to: improved sanitation, exclusion, trapping, and fertility control.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The Town continue its current work amending and implementing an Integrated Pest

Management Policy that eliminates the use of both the neurotoxic rodenticide Bromethalin

and first generation anticoagulants–by or on behalf of municipal property owning or

managing entities and that these practices are adopted and practiced by all municipal

departments, commissions, boards and other subdivisions.

COMMENT: Initial submission of a main motion. This is not a revision, substitute, or

amendment to a previously submitted motion.

Respectfully submitted,

/s/ Suzanne Chiarito

Precinct 20

Date Voted: _____________

Action Taken: ___________