Updated on July 3, 2023.
Vermont regulators are poised to reject a controversial plan to use chemicals to kill invasive weeds in Lake Bomoseen.
In a draft decision, the Department of Environmental Conservation on Friday said it was unwilling to grant a permit to the Lake Bomoseen Association to treat the Rutland County lake with an herbicide targeting the invasive Eurasian watermilfoil.
The plan enraged some lake residents and spurred calls for a moratorium on such treatments until the environmental impacts could be better understood. The moratorium didn’t pass, but a bill creating a study committee to explore the issue did.
Bob Stannard, a former lobbyist who owns lake property and opposes the herbicide treatment, said he was confident the outcry influenced regulators’ decision.
“We made a lot of noise,” Stannard said.
Lake Bomoseen is the largest lake exclusively within Vermont’s borders. Located just north of Castleton, the 2,400-acre water body is home to a popular state park and about 1,000 private homes.
The lake is relatively shallow, with an average depth of 26 feet, and for decades, efforts to control Eurasian watermilfoil in it have fallen short.
The feathery invasive plant was first introduced into the United States in the mid-1900s, likely from aquarium water. It was first identified in Vermont in St. Albans Bay in 1962 and has since invaded more than 80 lakes and ponds. It first was confirmed in Bomoseen in 1982.
The state has allowed herbicide treatments in at least 10 lakes since 2019. The Lake Bomoseen Association hired a lake management company and applied for a permit in early 2022.
The chemical ProcellaCOR EC was to be applied by boat to about 620 acres of the lake over three years. But in the draft decision, regulators found that the herbicide could also harm an array of other aquatic vegetation in the lake and adjacent wetlands.
“The overall proposed treatment plan did not adequately avoid or minimize impacts to aquatic plants, aquatic animals, wetland and the overall ecological integrity of Lake Bomoseen,” regulators wrote in the draft decision.
Liz Bird, president of the Lake Bomoseen Association, said the organization planned to take some time to consider next steps.
The debate over the herbicide plan has been acrimonious, she said and it might be nice to set it aside for now and let people enjoy the summer.
The public has 30 days to comment on the draft ruling. Once the decision is final, someone has 30 days appeal to the Environmental Division of the Superior Court. Stannard said he hopes that doesn’t happen. Everyone involved in the debate loves the lake, but the fight over the permit has left “some really hard feelings” over it.
“We just had a very, very polarizing difference of opinion over how to deal with this situation,” he said.
He said he hopes the board of the Lake Bomoseen Association listens to the feedback it has received and works openly on a new approach instead of doubling down on a flawed plan.
“Instead of going toe to toe, let’s go hand in hand,” Stannard said.
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