http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2005/08/04/news/news01.txt
August 4, 2005
Bonner
County Daily Bee (Idaho)
City Beach milfoil plans hit the rocks
By KEITH KINNAIRD
News editor
DEQ denies permit for controversial herbicide
SANDPOINT -- A controversial plan to use herbicide to winnow
milfoil infestations in the waters off City Beach has been scuttled,
Bonner County's noxious weed supervisor said Wednesday night.
"DEQ turned down our permit. It appears there was a procedural
flaw," weed boss Brad Bluemer said.
Bluemer said he was not entirely sure what the "procedural
flaw" was late Wednesday and declined to speculate on what
it might have been. He plans to talk the matter over today with
Leslie Marshall, director of Bonner County Solid Waste, Waterways
and Weeds.
The county planned to begin applying an herbicide called Sonar
at City Beach on Monday, but the project was delayed because
of an apparent problem with maps the county submitted with the
Idaho Department of Environmental Quality as part of the permit
application.
The problem stayed unresolved through the week. Bluemer said
re-applying for the permit would delay the project enough to
undermine its effectiveness.
"We've done missed our window," Bluemer said, explaining
that the infestations will have grown too large by the time
a permit is secured.
Although the county is cutting its losses with the permit for
Sonar, it is pushing head with plans to apply another herbicide
called Renovate in the Pend Oreille River at Springy Point,
Willow Bay, Albeni Cove, Laclede and Priest River.
Those treatments are tentatively set to begin on August 22.
"That will be the soonest that will happen," Bluemer
said.
Despite assurances from officials that the herbicides pose
no safety threat, some in Bonner County object to their use
in Lake Pend Oreille and the river.
--end--
Note from FAN: The active ingredient in
Renovate is Triclopyr: 3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinyloxyacetic
acid, triethylamine salt.
See Material Safety Data Sheet at http://aquat1.ifas.ufl.edu/guide/renovate_label.pdf