http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=102167
Boston Herald
June 24 2005
Lake Cochituate milfoil situation worsens
By Claudia Torrens / Daily News Staff
NATICK -- The state is considering more drastic measures, including
use of an herbicide, in an attempt to get rid of milfoil that
is spreading across Lake Cochituate.
The state Department of Conservation
and Recreation has set aside an appeal from residents who oppose
the use of herbicides to kill invasive milfoil at the lake because
the situation "is much more severe," and different
steps need to be taken.
Joe O'Keefe, assistant secretary of environmental affairs
at the department, said yesterday that since the initial herbicides
proposed by the state are insufficient now to control the milfoil,
officials are looking at a new plan.
"We are back at square one," said O'Keefe. "The
increase in milfoil has forced us to come up with a new proposal."
O'Keefe said under the new plan -- which will have to be presented
to the town's Conservation Commission -- the
state is considering using fluridone, a white crystalline
solid with no odor to treat the entire lake and not just certain
spots.
O'Keefe said he did not know when the plan would be filed.
Bob Bois, the town's environmental compliance officer, said
he has not seen the state's proposal yet.
Martin Levin, the lawyer for a group of residents, said yesterday
the new plan could be "even worse" than the one that
was first presented in 2003 which his clients decided to appeal.
"There is no assurance that
these chemicals applications are going to get the problem under
control," said Levin. "The state is failing to implement
non-chemical alternatives."
The lawyer said yesterday that herbicides pose risks to the
animals and plants of the lake and are a threat to Natick's
drinking water.
Levin's two dozen clients appealed the
herbicide plan the state put together in 2003 to control milfoil.
When the appeal was denied last year, the group challenged that
decision to the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals.
The group was questioned by an officer from that agency.
Levin said that after his clients' testimony, the state
decided to set aside the appeal and file a new notice of intent
with the town for its latest plan.
Levin said that if the Conservation Commission likes
the state's proposal, the group -- most of whose members live
in Natick -- could appeal the plan again.
Mike Tilton, a member of the Lake Cochituate Advisory Committee,
said yesterday an appeal from residents will delay the whole
process.
"What upsets us is that products
like these have been used for years," said Tilton. "From
what I have heard, pesticides designed to be used for water
supply can be used safely."
Framingham's Bill Frantzen, who started the Save Our Shores
group to fight Levin's clients' appeal, agrees.
"We need to treat the lake as soon as possible. The state
has very qualified management and has a good new plan,"
said Frantzen. "The weeds are dangerous to swimmers and
hurt the lake ecology dramatically. The longer it takes to treat,
the more it will cost the taxpayers."
Frantzen said 125 acres of the lake now have milfoil.
He said that herbicides pose no danger
to the public.
"We have yet to see any concrete data to support the appealers
of this needed treatment," said Frantzen. "Otherwise
we are very close to losing this precious resource."
(Claudia Torrens can be reached at 508-626-3976 or ctorrens@cnc.com)
