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Group Requests Hearing on Chemical Treatment of Lake Invasive

The Adirondack Council wants the Adirondack Park Agency to hold a formal public hearing before deciding whether to allow the use of a chemical herbicide in a lake to kill an invasive plant.

The environmental group wants an adjudicatory hearing held to determine whether triclopyr, known commercially as Renovate,  should be used in Loon Lake to kill Eurasian Water Milfoil.  The chemical has only been used one other time, in Lake Luzerne, and Council spokesman John Sheehan says the results were less than benign.

The Supervisor in the town of Lake Luzerne says he knows of no one from the Adirondack Council coming there to actually see the results of the use of the herbicide.  Republican Gene Merlino says the claims in the Council’s  press release that the chemical “...killed alarming numbers of snails and suppressed dissolved oxygen to dangerous levels...” are overblown.

Adirondack Park Local Government Review Board Executive Director Fred Monroe finds the timing of the request for a hearing curious.

The Adirondack Park Agency board is scheduled to review the permit request Thursday afternoon. APA spokesman Keith McKeever says the Adirondack Council’s request does not appear to meet their criteria to refer to a hearing.

The Adirondack Park Agency has received 44 public comments regarding the permit request to use the chemical herbicide in Loon Lake.  Forty-one expressed support for the project, while one requested a hearing.

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