Fluridone - CAS No. 59756-60-4. Local Battles.
June 2, 2005. State OK's use of weed killer in pond. Sonar treatment to begin this month.
By Christine Walllgren. Boston Globe.

 
 

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2005/06/02/state_oks_use_of_weed_killer_in_pond/

June 2, 2005

The Boston Globe

State OK's use of weed killer in pond
Sonar treatment to begin this month

By Christine Wallgren, Globe Correspondent  

The town's Conservation Commission last week lost a long-running fight to keep the weed-killer Sonar from being used in East Monponsett Pond, opening the way for preparations for the treatment to begin almost immediately.

The state Department of Environmental Protection ruled that Sonar can be used as long as the welfare of three endangered species known to live in the pond is closely watched.

The state agency's decision represented a victory for selectmen, who favored the treatment, and for boaters who say they have been hampered by weed growth in the pond. But it was a disappointment for Conservation Commission members and the town's water superintendent, who have argued against it on health and safety grounds.

'If I had my way, I'd stop it, but the town wants it. So, at this point, we'll step away" and not appeal the ruling, said Joseph McCullough, the commission's chairman. ''I just hope our water supply doesn't get poisoned by this."

Water Superintendent Richard Clark shares McCullough's concern. The town has two drinking-water wells on the shores of the pond that must be protected, he said.

''We want it on the record that we weren't for putting chemicals so close to our wells from Day 1," Clark said. ''We just spent eight years and $700,000 on the new well over there. If we were to lose it, it would cost twice as much to put another one in."

Sonar, a product that contains the chemical fluridone as its active ingredient, inhibits a plant's ability to take in nutrients, causing it to die within 30 to 45 days of application. Its manufacturer and the company that will be applying the Sonar say fish and other pond life are not harmed by the treatments.

The time frame for applying Sonar is so tight that officials didn't even wait for tomorrow's close of the 10-day appeal period before beginning the prep work needed to treat the pond later this month.

Scientists from Bay State Environmental Consultants, an East Longmeadow firm hired to monitor the local endangered species during the Sonar application, were to begin this week gathering over 100 umber shadowdragon nymphs, which attach themselves to underwater rocks, sticks, and debris. The larvae of the rare dragonfly species will be brought to the company's lab and placed in two tanks filled with water from East Monponsett Pond. One tank will be treated with Sonar and the other left untreated. The welfare of the nymphs will then be compared.

In midmonth, scuba divers from Bay State will place about 150 mussels that belong to two rare species in underwater cages in the pond, and will compare their wellbeing with mussels in nearby West Monponsett Pond, where the weedkiller is not going to be applied because a study of phosphorus levels is incomplete.

Paul Davis, a senior scientist at Bay State Environmental, said he does not expect the Sonar to cause any harm, ''but if we get anything that's even questionable" the application would stop. ''They're going to be careful."

The state said the application should be completed by July 20, because a late season die-off of fully mature plants ''could significantly affect oxygen levels in the pond." State officials did add that weather conditions, such as this year's late start of warm weather, may affect how late the Sonar could be applied.

The Sonar will be applied by Lycott Environmental Inc., a Southbridge-based company that has been working on a solution to the weed problem in the East and West Monponsett ponds since 2002. Two years ago, company president Lee Lyman suggested the use of Sonar. He said low concentrations of Sonar have been applied successfully in several area bodies of water, including Bearse's Pond in Barnstable, Lake Massapoag in Sharon, and Long Pond in Lakeville.

Concerns raised by the state's Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program, as well as the local Conservation Commission and Water Department, delayed the application of Sonar. At the request of the Natural Heritage program, the town hired Bay State Environmental last year to study the possible effects of Sonar on the endangered species. The consultants concluded Sonar, in the concentrations being proposed, would not harm them.

Natural Heritage was satisfied by that report, but stipulated monitoring must be done. The Conservation Commission and Water Department remained dissatisfied. In September, the Conservation Commission denied a request from the selectmen to allow the Sonar treatments. The selectmen appealed the denial to the Department of Environmental Protection, which issued last week's ruling.

The company has said Sonar will have no impact on the town's underground wells. And Lyman said the concentrations of Sonar will be so low that water sports on the pond can continue during application without interruption.

The Board of Selectmen's chairwoman, Margaret Fitzgerald, said she remains convinced that Sonar is not only safe, it is the only effective way to rid the ponds of weeds.

''I think it was great news for the town and for the ponds," Fitzgerald said of the state agency's ruling. ''Every year we wait, [the weeds] just get worse."

Boaters were also pleased with the news. ''This is what we've been waiting for, and it's what the lake needs," said lakeside resident Joseph Tonello. ''I wasn't able to use my jet skis on the lake last year or the year before. I have a small boat, and the weeds slow it down."

The state's ruling requires the town to continue monitoring the endangered species in the pond over the next five years. The cost of the Sonar application and monitoring has been placed at a little over $80,000. Town Meeting, in votes over the last two years, has already provided the money to cover the expense.

Christine Wallgren can be reached at CLWallgren@aol.com.

 
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