http://www.bonnercountydailybee.com/articles/2005/07/31/news/news03.txt

July 31, 2005

Bonner County Daily Bee (Idaho)

City Beach milfoil plans are on hold

County awaits IDEQ permit

By KEITH KINNAIRD
News editor

SANDPOINT -- Plans to begin applying herbicide in the waters off City Beach to beat back Eurasian milfoil on Monday have been put on hold because state regulators have yet to issue a permit for the project, a county official said Friday.

The herbicide application project is in limbo because the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality said it has not received new maps delineating the proposed treatment areas, said Brad Bluemer, Bonner County's noxious weed supervisor.

Bluemer insists the maps were sent to the department in Coeur d'Alene, but said DEQ officials are indicating they haven't received them yet.

June Bergquist, a water quality specialist at DEQ, was not immediately available for comment late Friday afternoon.

Plans called for the granulated herbicide to be dropped on infestations colonizing the waters off City Beach's boat launch and jetty on Monday. Instead, Bluemer expects to be meeting with the DEQ officials and a representative from the herbicide's manufacturer, Indiana-based SePRO Corp.

"Maybe we can treat on Tuesday," Bluemer said.

The treatments are slated to run through the month of August.

The milfoil-control plan is charging an ongoing debate in Bonner County over whether assaulting the prolific weed with chemicals is safe let alone effective. Some community leaders and officials are convinced using herbicide is the most prudent method, while some residents are just as convinced putting chemicals in Sand Creek and Lake Pend Oreille is shortsighted and potentially dangerous.

Although none of the chemical will be applied in City Beach's designated swim area, county resident Mary Bruhjell said she and other parents pulled their kids out of the city Recreation Department's swimming program when they got word the water was going to be spiked with the herbicide Sonar PR.

"A lot of other families made that decision when they got the notice," said Bruhjell, who appreciates the problem milfoil poses, but disagrees with the way the county is addressing it.

Bruhjell questions why the applications were timed so they would not interfere with the fish spawning season, but not the second session of the city's swim program. She's also not convinced that Sonar will be effective in curbing milfoil or of declarations that the product is safe, particularly when it comes to growing children.

"How do you determine what's safe for a child?" Bruhjell asked.

Plans for treating milfoil at City Beach have also stirred concern over its potential impact to Sandpoint's drinking water.

Sandpoint Public Works officials issued a statement Friday saying they expect no adverse impacts on drinking water. They also point out the intake for the city's lake water treatment plant is located in the Pend Oreille River channel, a quarter-mile upstream of the application site.

"Furthermore, the active ingredient in Sonar PR is readily absorbed by organic matter. Since water treatment at the Lake Plant includes the use of activated carbon absorption, any residues of the herbicide that might reach the Lake Plant intake should be removed by the treatment process," the statement said.

The city also plans to collect water samples during the application period to ensure water quality is not tainted by the herbicide.

Sonar will be used in a concentration of 10 parts per billion, according to Bluemer, who said the county is eager to get after the infestations before they get bigger and require a larger amount of herbicide to combat them. Lake Pend Oreille's elevated winter water level meant less milfoil was exposed to air and died than in years past, he said.

"It's important to do this as soon as possible. What we want is good (weed) control for a number of years," he said.