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.