MD Awaits Okay To Eradicate Snakeheads
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MD Awaits Okay To Eradicate Snakeheads
Date:
Thu, 8 Aug 2002 09:13:05 -400
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
cc: Christine Whitman whitman.christine@epa.gov
To view the entire article, go to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52783-2002Aug6.html
Md. Awaits Okay to Eradicate Snakeheads By Anita Huslin.
Beneath the algae-slicked surface of the cordoned-off pond in Crofton, time is dwindling for the largemouth bass, bluegill, pickerel and eels that have the misfortune of sharing the waters with one of America's most unwanted fish.
Their death sentence is expected to come today, the deadline that Maryland officials have set for the property owners to grant permission to exterminate the fishing hole and everything in it.
Northern snakeheads, which are native to China, are the target, but the destruction of virtually all other plants, fish and animals in the pond will be required in order to snuff the prolific, voracious snakeheads.
Since the fish were discovered in the pond by an angler in May, natural resources officials have moved aggressively and deliberately toward this point, consulting with national experts and then doing a trial run in preparation for the main event.
Natural resources managers "are ready to go," said a state official close to the decision. "They've got the boats, the equipment to do it and have gone through the training. All we need is the word."
Whether that will come from the owners today is not certain, however.
Danny MacQuilliam, whose firm owns the four-acre pond and an adjacent strip mall in Anne Arundel County, said yesterday that he was not sure that his firm was ready to give the state the go-ahead.
"I know they're ready to go and they have their plan all down, but whether I can get them an answer by then, I don't know," he said. The Maryland Department of Natural Resources "put the ball in my court, but we have some questions that need to be taken care of so I have everything clear in my mind."
The process of killing every living thing in the pond will be messy but fairly straightforward: Herbicide will be introduced into the pond to kill the vegetation. After it dies back, fish poison will be applied to extirpate the snakeheads.
Most of the native fish in the pond, which formed when groundwater filled an abandoned gravel quarry, will die when the herbicide is applied and the dying vegetation results in oxygen depletion in the water, scientists said.
State officials have told MacQuilliam that they will remove the dead fish at least once a day and take them to a landfill to minimize the stench.
"Liability and my tenants are my primary concern," said MacQuilliam, who has hired a private environmental consultant to review the state's information.
Although he has been satisfied with state officials' assurances that the job would be done as quickly and with as little disruption as possible, MacQuilliam said his consultant is checking to ensure that "all the i's are dotted and the t's are crossed."
"If it works in their time frame, that would be wonderful," MacQuilliam said. "But we're not going to move ahead with something we're not comfortable with."
Well Mr. Helliker, the Chinese think we are crazy to kill the fish (Nuke 'em until they glow), because they think that these fish are a delicacy and are more comfortable just eating them.
Respectfully, Stephen L. Tvedten
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