http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=122394

Metro West Daily News (Massachusetts).

February 19, 2006

Town resists weed plan: Residents speak out against herbicides at Lake Cochituate

By Katie Liesener / Daily News Staff

WAYLAND -- A state plan to use herbicides to curb invasive aquatic weeds in Lake Cochituate met with initial resistance at its first public hearing in Wayland, one of three towns affected by the plan and one that has moved away from herbicide use in recent years.

 "Even though these herbicides are being introduced at very low levels, it behooves us to err on the side of caution," said Jackson Madnick, chairman of Wayland’s Surface Water Quality Committee. "We don’t know what the long-term effects are."

The five-year plan, submitted by the state Office of Water Resources, advocates the use of physical means to remove curlyleaf pondweed and milfoil from Middle Pond and North Pond -- two basins of Lake Cochituate that partly lie in Wayland.

Those physical approaches include hand-pulling, suction harvesting and laying heavy mats at the bottom of the lake to crush the weeds. In North Pond, the state also plans to introduce the milfoil weevil, an insect that eats the plant.

But the plan also calls for the use of herbicides fluridone, endothall and/or diquat in Middle Pond, and in North Pond only if physical means are not successful after the first year.

The state plan indicates the chemicals could have "temporary, minor impacts to fish and wildlife habitat." As federally registered herbicides, they do not pose an "unreasonable risk" to humans, according to the plan.

Some Wayland residents are not so sure, questioning both the long-term effects of herbicide exposure and the possibility of groundwater contamination.

Madnick is particularly concerned about the herbicides’ potential effects on children who swim at the town beach on North Pond.

He considers herbicides "a useful tool of last resort." The state set that precedent for cities and towns, he said, in a law that requires schools and day care centers to try alternative methods of pest control before turning to chemicals.

"If we don’t allow even drops of it at schools without considerable oversight, why would we allow our children to bask in it for hours" at the beach?

Madnick said that of about 20 calls he received in the week leading up to the hearing, all but one discouraged herbicide use.

Last year the town chose to discontinue herbicide use at the Town Beach, opting for hand-pulling instead. At Dudley Pond, the same transition to hand-pulling was made two years ago.

"The state will try to use chemicals first because chemicals are cheap," said Lili Griffin, a member of the Dudley Pond Association and the Surface Water Quality Committee.

But chemicals are not a magic bullet, said Griffin, who has worked as an environmental engineer for the EPA and U.S. Department of Energy. She pointed out that Dudley Pond had been treated with fluridone five times, every three years, and weeds continue to be a problem.

Though human efforts alone will not eradicate the weed, she said, "the goal (of hand-pulling) is to let the natural species take back over."

Milfoil, a non-native plant, first appeared in New England in the 1960s and was documented in Lake Cochituate in 2002. In 2003, the weed spread from Middle Pond to North Pond despite a barrier constructed the year prior to catch milfoil fragments, which allow the weed to regenerate.

The feathery weed forms thick underwater forests that crowd out other wildlife, interfere with boating and pose a danger to swimmers.

"The EPA has done extensive research on these herbicides. We would not use them if there was any question about their safety," said Vanessa Gulati, a spokeswoman for the state Office of Water Resources.

One person who did question their safety at the Wayland hearing was Dr. Elizabeth Newton of the Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit organization examining the links between the environment and women’s health. She said short-term effects of chemicals can be assessed to some extent in animal experiments, though the applicability to humans is never certain. Long-term effects are even more difficult to assess, she said.

Megan Lucier, chairwoman of the Conservation Commission, said residents’ views were as conflicting as the evidence.

"It’s a very emotional issue. I’m just relieved it didn’t get out of hand," she said.

The commission will meet again on March 1, which Lucier said will likely be the last public hearing. The commission has 21 days from the close of the hearing to decide whether to accept the state’s proposal, reject it, or request modifications.