http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=122423
Metro West Daily News (Massachusetts).
February 20, 2006
Controversy over chemicals is common
throughout state: Milford to seek funding to get rid of weeds.
By Claudia Torrens / Daily News Staff
The Milford and MetroWest regions are not alone when it comes
to a debate over dumping chemicals in lakes.
The state Department of Environmental Protection granted 240
licenses in 2005 to towns across Massachusetts to apply herbicides
in lakes and ponds to control different invasive weeds.
Of those, 47 included the use of Sonar or Fluridone, the same
chemical the state is getting ready to dump in Lake Cochituate
to control a non-native weed called Eurasian milfoil.
According to the EPA, Sonar is a white crystalline solid used
to control nuisance plants including pond weed and milfoil.
It is considered safe for drinking water supplies in low doses,
according to the EPA.
In Milford, the town is working with different groups to obtain
federal funding and dredge 45 acres of Milford Pond to get rid
of invasive weeds. The project, which calls for dredging 400,000
cubic feet of material, will cost $8 million, said Dino DeBartolomeis,
the chairman of the Pond Restoration Committee.
"What we know for sure is that we won’t use
anything detrimental for the water," he said.
Approximately 162 of the herbicide licenses included the use
of diquat or Reward, another chemical proposed for possible
use at the lake.
According to the EPA, diquat is an organic solid used to control
both crop and aquatic weeds. It is not considered harmful to
wildlife in low doses.
For years, the use of herbicides has pitted residents who believe
the chemicals will poison drinking water and kill animals at
the lake against those who think herbicides are the only way
to control a growing weed problem.
Many lakes in the state are under assault from weeds like milfoil,
which damages and clogs habitat for native plants and fish.
In Harwich and Brewster, for example, residents have gathered
more than 225 signatures opposing the use of a chemical called
alum or aluminum sulfate at the 740-acre Long Pond.
"Our case is not as dramatic as Natick but what the town
proposes does not seem a good approach to us," said Karen
Malkus, the president of Friends of Long Pond.
The lake has been taken over by phosphorus, a nutrient for
plants that makes the weeds grow.
In the town of Harvard, Bare Hill Pond is succumbing to variable
milfoil and other aggressive weeds.
After years of debate over herbicides, the town finally opted
for manual weed pulling and mechanical weed harvesting as short-term
solutions. Harvard is also trying a deep drawdown pumping project
to lower the water levels in the winter, exposing the milfoil
so it freezes and dies.
Bruce Leicher, chairman of the Bare Hill Pond Watershed Management
Commission, said the lake was in such critical condition that
in 1999, the DEP put it on its list of endangered ponds. The
pumping system has proven effective so far and although weeds
are multiplying in very deep areas, the system will soon lower
the lake temporarily by eight feet.
"We have made a lot of progress," said Leicher.
In other cases, however, herbicides have proven effective,
quick and have not triggered opposition.
In Taunton and East Taunton, for example, the Department of
Conservation and Recreation dumped Sonar to control invasive
weeds at Massasoit State Park in 1997, 1998 and 1999.
Alan DeCastro, former chairman of the Bristol County Mosquito
Control project, said he does not recall hearing any opposition
to the plan. The chemical was used twice on Middle Pond and
once on Watson Pond State Park and Big Bearhole Pond, according
to the state.
"Vegetation was getting kind of bad," said DeCastro.
"But the ponds are not sources of drinking water. People
just come to fish."
According to state spokeswoman Vanessa Gulati, that was the
last time the DCR applied Sonar before coming to Lake Cochituate.
The department, however, gave matching grants ranging from
$3,000 to $25,000 to towns to apply herbicides in lakes and
ponds and make other improvements. From 1999 to 2002, the state
gave 70 grants to towns throughout Massachusetts to control
invasive weeds.
For Sarah Little, the former Wellesley pesticide awareness
coordinator, the problem is not a question of being in favor
or against herbicides.
"Every lake is different. There is not a single solution
to control this problem," said Little. "Each lake
reacts differently to pesticides, each needs a different management
plan."
Wellesley said no to Sonar last year to cure ailing Morse’s
Pond.
For years, it used a harvesting method to control its eurasian
and variable milfoil problem. Last November, the pond’s
management plan was approved and it includes harvesting and
dredging the pond’s northern basin.
"Part of the adversarial side of this is that many people
feel their health is being threatened. On the other hand, people
feel strong about weeds being removed," said Janet Bowser,
director of the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission. "I
think it comes down to the town setting priorities. Our number
one was the protection of our water supply. That is what guided
us."
The towns of Wayland, Hudson, Sandwich, Newton, Lincoln and
Andover have debated herbicide use for years.
Lake George in New York, Lake Tahoe in Nevada and Lake Amston
in Connecticut are other examples of out-of-state victims of
milfoil.
The problem is not cheap to solve.
Claudia Torrens can be reached at 508-626-3976 or ctorrens@cnc.com.
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