Lake Group To Delay Decision on Herbicides

SALISBURY — If Lake Wononscopomuc ever receives chemical treatment for aquatic weeds, it won’t be in 2007. That was the message after the lake association convened at a sparsely attended meeting Saturday morning in Town Hall.

Fewer than 10 people showed up for the meeting, but if they are representative of the organization as a whole, the Lake Wononscopomuc Association appears divided on the issue of whether to use herbicides to combat the Eurasian watermilfoil that has bedeviled Lake Wononscopomuc (also known as Lakeville Lake) for years.

Association President Bill Littauer emphasized that the plan he received from Aquatic Control Technology of Sutton, Mass., would cover only the most overgrown one-third of the lake, partly because of "public opposition the last time."

Hanging heavy in the air was the specter of 2001, when a hearing on the subject drew an emotional crowd at the Salisbury Congregational Church and prompted association officials to drop the idea of using chemicals to combat the weeds.

"I’ve been on the lake for 25 years and nothing has been done about the milfoil," said Edward Erbacher. "I’m tired of fooling around. We have a proposal to consider."

"At some point you have to get started," added Erwin Ackerman.Lingering Safety Concerns

Part of the challenge in addressing public opinion, Littauer noted, is that Lake Wononscopomuc has a popular public beach (the Town Grove) that almost everyone in town uses at some point. So the potential impact of using herbicides is far greater than it would be at the larger but private Twin Lakes, which has been using the chemicals successfully and with little controversy since 2003.

Mary Silks said she has been following the treatment program at Bantam Lake and told the meeting the Bantam Lake Association spent several years pursuing a public outreach effort to provide information about the plans.

"When they were finally ready to submit their application last year there was no opposition at all," she said.Weeds Less Dense This Year

The proposal from Aquatic Control Technology calls for treatment of 35 percent of the surface area of the 353-acre lake at an estimated cost of $25,000 to $30,000. The relatively light application of the herbicides Reward and Renovate OTF is "not designed to kill [the weeds] but to suppress them," Littauer said.

The more powerful weedkiller Sonar (also known as 2,4-D) was slated for use last time and has recently received approval from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. But Aquatic Control Technology said in its proposal that it did not expect EPA approval "will sway public opinion." Aquatic Control Technology also drew up the 2001 proposal.

And the application of Reward and Renovate OTF will have to be limited, because of the presence of protected species of plants that stand to be harmed.

But Chris Oostenink, a limnologist and a science teacher at The Hotchkiss School, said the survey map offered by Aquatic Control Technology, which apparently dates to 2001, appears to contain inaccurate information on the location of the weeds.

"Many of the weeds have been replaced by tape grass and algae," Oostenink said. "I don’t think those are areas of dense milfoil now."

Oostenink said mechanical harvesting efforts have been largely successful in suppressing the weeds. Chemical treatment of Lake Wononscopomuc should be approached with great caution, he added, because the lake’s waters take about four years to "turn over" or replace themselves through the natural flow cycle.Permits (and Time) Still Needed

If the association wants to begin treatments in 2007, it would need to make a commitment by next month to begin the permitting process for a June start.

Ackerman said he thought a simple majority of the association would suffice to decide to begin the process for the chemical treatments. But Littauer cautioned against that, adding that "you would need an overwhelming majority for something like this."

The Board of Selectman has indicated in the past that it would support the treatments only if there was a clear groundswell of public opinion in favor of it. Littauer suggested inviting a representative from the Bantam Lake Association attend a future meeting.

The association decided to start a Web site, which could be up and running next month. The site will provide information about the lake, including possible herbicide treatments.

"I’m a little bit leery of making [the site] a one-dimensional advocacy of chemical treatments," Oostenink said.

But members agreed that the Web site would be part of a broad effort to get out general information, including weed control.

Under the timeline adopted Saturday, the association will first make information available on the Web site this winter. It will then invite representatives of Aquatic Control Technology, the state Department of Environmental Protection and the associations of Twin Lakes and Bantam Lakes to its annual spring meeting in May.

"We would then have until January of 2008 for further meetings and discussion before making a decision on whether to commit to a treatment program in June of 2008," Littauer said in a written statement after the meeting.