Two organizations that oversee the protection and management of Lake George are ready to move on after a years-long fight over the application of a chemical herbicide to control an invasive species in the lake.
Proponents of ProcellaCOR say the herbicide specifically targets invasive Eurasian watermilfoil and dissipates to undetectable levels within days of application.
The Lake George Association lost a court fight to prevent the Lake George Park Commission from applying the chemical in June. Now LGPC chair Ken Parker says the two organizations are working together again on a management plan.
“We have come to a very strong decision to put the immediate past behind us because the long-term past, the long-term history between the LGA and the Lake George Park Commission was forever strong. John and I are communicating on a regular basis, we are comparing notes, we are looking forward not just to the coming year of 2024, but ‘25 and beyond of working together on different scientific lake projects,” said Parker.
LGA board chair John Kelly says the initial data, and renewed partnership, is promising.
“Much of our data is consistent with the Park Commission’s data. That is that specifically a great deal of the milfoil in the treatment zones was affected, killed, by the ProcellaCOR. Our data also agrees that the ProcellaCOR broke down and dissipated quite quickly—within about 24 hours,” said Kelly.
According to the LGA’s report, ProcellaCOR was successful in a “complete” killing of the watermilfoil in the treatment zone in Sheep Meadow Bay. A “majority" of the invasive aquatic plant was eliminated in the Blairs Bay treatment zone.
Opponents of the herbicide warned of potential long-term effects of the chemical and argued that hand-harvesting had worked in previous years to cull the plant.
A study by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture linked ProcellaCOR to so-called forever chemicals, adding to concerns about its use in Lake George.
Kelly says the two organizations will continue to work together to track any long-term effects of the herbicide.
“ProcellaCOR breaks down into other chemical products and we are tracking the one that’s the majority of the so-called degradant which is present in the sediment and we’ll be tracking that to see how that breaks down and if there’s any knock-on effects of it,” said Kelly.
Kelly says he hopes their management of Lake George will stand as an example of responsible stewardship.
“No application of ProcellaCOR has been studied more than what we’re doing collectively between the Park Commission and us. And we’re making all of our data available to inform all other lakes, not only in the region but nationally. So, we’ll be at the forefront of studying this and making the best decisions and we’ll be sharing it,” said Kelly.
Parker adds any future ProcellaCOR applications will require Adirondack Park Agency approval.
“We may certainly have a list of bays and spots on the lake that possibly are [in] potential need for prism and or milfoil containment. But no, there are no written plans right now to do any more applications in the coming year. That doesn't mean that we're not going to be working on it, and if we all come to an agreement that we wouldn't lay out something in the future,” said Parker.
The initial report found that, as some critics had predicted, the lake's swift currents slightly reduced the herbicide's efficacy.
