Boston Group Plans Challenge on Use of Herbicide on Massachusetts Lake

Subject: Boston Group Plans Challenge on Use of Herbicide on Massachusetts Lake
Date:     Tue, 18 Jun 2002 08:17:08 -0400
From:      Stephen Tvedten <steve@getipm.com>
Organization:     Get Set Inc. (www.getipm.com)

To: Paul Helliker <phelliker@cdpr.ca.gov>
Director, State of California, Department of Pesticide Regulation

Jun. 12--STOW, Mass.--A balmy southwest wind raised ripples across the 167-acre surface of Lake Boon yesterday. Below, the lake was choked by a fast-growing aquatic weed. But what really had the water roiling was the first legal volley fired by an environmental organization alleging the application of a common herbicide last week was illegal.

The lawsuit, slated to be filed in 60 days by the Boston-based Toxics Action Center under the federal Clean Water Act, would be the first of its kind in New England. It seeks to block the use of an herbicide by charging that the state and local governments need a federal pollution permit to use the weedkiller.

The issue of lake herbicides is heating up as the region's nutrient-rich ponds and lakes grow more infested with non-native weeds -- and neighborhoods start to worry more about the effects of the weedkillers used against them. Some 250 homes surround Lake Boon, almost all of them drawing their drinking water from shallow wells as close as 15 feet from a shoreline that also reaches into Hudson.

"This dumping not only poses a threat to public health and the environment, but it's ineffective for long-term control of weeds," said Matthew Wilson, director of the Toxics Action Center, who addressed about 15 residents during a press conference yesterday on a knoll overlooking the lake.

Since 1993, Lake Boon and 51 other lakes and ponds in the state have been treated with herbicides, the state Department of Environmental Management often picking up a portion of the tab along with the towns, according to Wilson. To date, the department has spent nearly $650,000 fighting aquatic weeds, principally the non-native milfoil and combamba that typically are introduced via the uncleaned hulls of boats. The plants spread quickly, and can eventually clog the water to the point that propeller-driven boats won't work, people won't swim, and fish die from lack of oxygen.

The first line of attack has been the herbicide Sonar. Sonar, which is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency, was sprayed into the lake last Thursday in the first of what may be several herbicide treatments during the next two years. Advocates for the chemical say that if the lake is properly managed, native plants should return.

Wilson, his lawyer Josh Kratka of the National Environmental Law Center, and several other speakers yesterday said not enough is known about the long-term effects of the herbicide, and they want to halt its use so that more passive battle plans can be explored -- such as sending divers down to physically pull out the weeds.

Wilson contends that the state must obtain an EPA permit for the discharge of an herbicide in a lake, based on a ruling 15 months ago in the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. A citizen lawsuit claimed the herbicide Magnacide H was being used illegally in an Oregon irrigation district because the users had not gotten a pollution permit from the EPA.

Citizens may sue alleged violators of the Clean Water Act after giving 60 days notice to parties that include the EPA. Yesterday, Toxics Action Center started the clock ticking.

"Our position has always been that if an herbicide is applied correctly according to its label, no permit was required," said Roger Janson, the regional director of discharge permits. "We're taking no position on this. But obviously we are going to be watching the legal issues closely."

Environmental Group To File Lawsuit To Stop Pesticide Spraying InMassachusetts Lakes And Ponds: Group Calls for Immediate Halt to State Subsidies for Aquatic Pesticides

STOW: Standing on the public beach at Lake Boon, a statewide environmental group announced its intention to file a lawsuit on behalf of local residents to stop the spraying of toxic pesticides into the lake.

The suit, to be filed under the federal Clean Water Act by Toxics Action Center, would be the first of its kind in New England and could lead to a moratorium on aquatic pesticide applications at lakes, ponds and streams throughout Massachusetts.

"Aquatic pesticides not only pose a threat to public health and the environment but they are ineffective for long-term control of weeds. To top it off, using them without a permit is illegal," said Matthew Wilson, director of the Toxics Action Center. "Our state government should immediately stop using scarce tax dollars to subsidize the illegal use of toxic chemicals."

On June 6, employees of Lycott Environmental, Inc., applied the pesticide Sonar (active ingredient: fluridone) and possibly other pesticides to Lake Boon under a two-year contract with the towns of Stow and Hudson to kill weeds in the lake.

Half the funding to pay for the Lake Boon pesticides was supplied by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Lakes and Ponds Grant Program. Over the past nine years, the program has awarded 72 grants totaling nearly $650,000 to subsidize the use of pesticides in 52 Massachusetts lakes and ponds.

"Dumping pesticides into Lake Boon, or any other lake or pond, without a Clean Water Act discharge permit from the EPA is a clear violation of federal law," explained Josh Kratka, a senior attorney with the National Environmental Law Center.

The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants into navigable waters unless the discharger has obtained and complies with a permit from the Environmental Protection Agency specifying the terms and conditions under which pollutants may be released. EPA is charged with determining the safety of pesticides and, with public input, placing limitations on their use in lakes and ponds.

Citizens may sue violators of the Clean Water Act after providing 60 days notice to the violator and EPA. Today, Toxics Action Center sent 60-day notice letters to Lycott Environmental, the Commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Management, the Lake Boon Commission, and the towns of Stow and Hudson, advising them of their intent to sue to enforce the Clean Water Act on behalf of its members who use Lake Boon.

"We hope that legal action will halt the application of toxic pesticides and force lake advocates and government officials to come up with more effective and non-toxic methods of weed control and lake management," said Barbara J. Ernst, whose house is on Lake Boon.

The town of Wayland recently rejected the use of Sonar and other pesticides and organized an effort to hand-pull and then suction weeds from Dudley Pond, with the help of local volunteers and local business support.

"Pesticides registered for use by the federal government have not been tested for health effects in humans. The regulatory process in this country allows a new chemical to be used until proven harmful," explained biologist Sarah Little. "For most synthetic chemicals, including the aquatic pesticides used in Lake Boon and elsewhere in Massachusetts, the full range of human health effects are still not known or understood. What we don't know includes effects on fetal development, brain development, child development, immune systems, nervous systems, reproductive systems, aging bodies, chemical sensitivity, and cancer."

Since 1987, the Toxics Action Center has helped more than 450 neighborhoods across New England fight toxic pollution in their communities. The Boston-based National Environmental Law Center is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that represents citizens and citizen groups nationwide in environmental enforcement suits.

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