MIDDLESEX COUNTY — The Army Corps of Engineers will begin the controversial spraying of herbicides, including diquat, which is banned in Europe, as part of a project to control the invasive aquatic plant hydrilla in 12 lower Connecticut River water bodies.
The Connecticut River Hydrilla Control Research and Demonstration Project now includes the use of three herbicides: diquat dibromide, dipotassium salt of endothall, and florpyrauxifen-benzyl, according to the Army Corps.
A proposed modification would add bispyribac-sodium, imazamox, flumioxazin, fluridone, penoxsulam, or combinations of the herbicides, it said.
Efforts are slated to begin this month at a number of “potential” sites, including Pameacha Pond and Mattabesset River in Middletown, Chester Creek and Parker’s Point in Chester, Hamburg Cove, Selden Creek and Joshua Creek in Lyme; an expanded Portland Boat Works, Post and Pratt coves in Deep River, the Salmon River in East Haddam, and Lake Pocotopaug in East Hampton.
Hydrilla, which can choke waterways, was first identified in the river in 2016 in Glastonbury, according to the Connecticut River Conservancy.
Application will be timed to avoid impacts to migratory fish, and northern pike “that may spawn in submerged aquatic vegetation at sites in or adjacent to the Connecticut River,” according to the Corps. Post-application monitoring may occur for up to three years.
In reaction to the news, many people have turned to Facebook, expressing concerns and objections to the herbicide applications, including in East Hampton’s 511-acre Lake Pocotopaug and Middletown's 17-acre pond.
However, according to a post on the town’s social media page, Lake Pocotopaug will not be treated this summer. Staff met with Corps representatives seeking its help in the local Conservation Lake Commission’s efforts to eradicate hydrilla, officials explained.
The main purpose, town officials said, was to pursue possible funding from the federal government.
“We were advised that the USACE was not able to assist financially, but that they were interested in the success data from the town’s treatments as part of its study work and would be interested in potentially participating or assisting in the future," officials said in the post.
The corps notice, it added, is part of a “future process and potential assistance.”
Diquat “exerts high intrinsic toxicity as a consequence of free oxygen radicals, leading to cellular death and organ dysfunctions,” according to the National Library of Medicine.
The post said the corps told East Hampton Town Manager David Cox the Corps is “trying to get ahead of state and federal permitting/regulatory requirements for future work at these sites” and while the language sounds like it will definitely take place, they are proposed actions and written that way as part of the corps' National Environmental Policy Act compliance process.
“If and when we have the opportunity to work on Lake Pocotopaug, we will definitely be in contact with you far in advance,” the town's post said.
The Pond and Lake Connection environmental consultant agency has been applying Sonar AS and Sonar H4C, which, the post said, is permitted in Connecticut. Efforts began in mid-June and will continue in mid-July and August.
Across the river in Middletown, Friends of Pameacha Pond group member Tyler Eckstrom said, as a former military man, he trusts the corps, and welcomes the treatment to mitigate the spread in the pond off South Main Street. He called the effort a “great leap forward.”
Despite the public debate, he explained, “I have a lot of faith in their abilities,” and doesn’t believe the corps would “do something they knew to be harmful.”
The fast-growing weed has been “popping up” at Pameacha, but hasn’t “taken over the whole pond yet,” Eckstrom added. Residents have been conducting kayak patrols, scouting out the area, he said, to identify where hydrilla has taken hold.
“It virtually renders the waterway useless,” he said.
The Corps is making an “appropriate move,” said Eckstrom, who also sits on the city Planning and Zoning Commission.
“This is a huge leap forward for the pond, and it’s going to help further our goals in making the pond a great, accessible spot for the community,” he said.
A change.org petition, Stop the Chemical Poisoning of Connecticut’s Waterways, demands the immediate cancellation of all current and planned applications. Within four days of its creation, the petition rapidly gained nearly 14,000 signatures.