Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust (LBPT)

Our mission is to enhance the environment, ecology and water quality conditions on the shoreline or in Lake Bomoseen, Vermont.

BOARD MEMBERS

Luca Conte, President
Ellen Oppenheimer, Vice President
Steven Moskowitz, Treasurer
Dawn Custer, Secretary
Liz Bird, Board Member

LOCAL LINKS
LBPT Facebook Page
Lake Bomoseen Association
Town of Castleton
Town of Hubbardton Phone: (802) 273-2951

CORRECTING MISINFORMATION ON MILFOIL
AND THE LBA

There has been increasing accusative dialog about the Lake Bomoseen Association (LBA), Milfoil and the honest efforts of scores of persons who have been attempting for the past 40+ years to address multiple ecological issues regarding our lake. In an effort to provide clarity, here are several facts related to this contentious dialog:

FALSE CLAIM #1: “The LBA has purposely attempted to hide their application for use of a pesticide from the public.“

FACT: At the LBA’s annual meeting in July, 2021, a full presentation on the management of Milfoil in the lake was given. This presentation included detailed information on ProcellaCorEC, its use, costs, administration, advantages and disadvantages. This presentation was attended by a significant number of lakeside homeowners and LBA members, with notices of the meeting provided to all members of the LBA. In addition, over 660 notices of the Permit application were mailed to Bomoseen Lakefront homeowners prior to the January, 2022 submission of the application, as required by State law.

FALSE CLAIM #2: “Solitude, (a company that has a permit to apply ProcellaCorEC in Vermont), wrote the LBA’s Permit Application to Promote their Product.”

FACTS: 1) The permit application was written by board members of the LBA and an independent non-profit, the Lake Bomoseen Preservation Trust (LBPT), with materials taken from Solitude and the the VT DEC’s public information sources. Solitude had no part in the application’s development. 2) Solitude, like all businesses, does make a profit from their services, but has done nothing to promote the use of this product on our lake.

FALSE CLAIM #3: “ProcellaCor is dangerous, toxic and unproven to be safe.”

FACTS: Chlorine is toxic; fluoride is dangerous; ammonia is poisonous, but all, if applied appropriately, are used in untold human applications. ProcellaCor has already been applied in 50 lakes in New Hampshire alone—as well as 12 in Vermont—with no reported negative effects on humans or animals, and only minimal short-term impact on 3 native plant species;

FALSE CLAIM #4: “ProcellaCor has not been approved by the EPA.”

FACT: The EPA does not ”approve” any chemicals; they do register chemicals for use after a specific, detailed scientific review focused on “potential human health and environmental effects associated with use of the product” (see https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-registration/about-pesticide-registration). ProcellaCorEC—which is considered a pesticide under Federal FIFRA regulations—has successfully completed the registration process, enabling manufacturers to use their product as specified by the EPA registration. ProcellaCor has also been approved for use by the Vermont Departments of Environmental Conservation, Public Health and Fish and Wildlife and continues to be used in 12 Vermont lakes.

FALSE CLAIM #5: “ProcellaCor will be sprayed over the lake, allowing the chemical to be spread where it shouldn’t and risking people’s health.”

FACT: A specialized boat with nozzles mounted underwater is used for the application, thus focusing application only on targeted milfoil concentrations underwater and eliminating any potential for misapplication.

FALSE CLAIM #6: “The Milfoil is no worse than it was 20 years ago.”

FACT: Anyone who has lived on the lake for more than 20 years knows that this is simply untrue. When I moved to the lake 40+ years ago, milfoil was sparse; it did not crown; it did not collect in floating masses the size of a Volkswagen; it did not stop the flow of water at the surface, allowing the superheated water to then cultivate dense beds of green algae; it did not foul boat props or clog water inlets, and—most importantly— it did not stop any of us from swimming in shallow shoreline areas. Today, it does all of these things, especially in those areas where the water is less than 6-8 feet deep. In fact, 89% of Lake Bomoseen’s shoreline areas have various densities of mature milfoil plants already well established.

FALSE CLAIM #7: “There are many other alternatives to the use of chemicals.”

FACT: Every lake that has struggled to address the proliferation of milfoil in their waters has gone through the same process: trials of every service available, ranging from hand pulling to DASH, Barriers, Aeration, Mechanical Harvesting, Dredging and even other chemicals. Nearly all are very costly, cover only limited areas, are temporary in nature, and ineffective for relatively large areas. Yet Milfoil continues to proliferate. For a specific example of another Vermont Lake that has been through this difficult search process, see https://www.lakeiroquois.org/invasives/milfoil-control-efforts.

FALSE CLAIM #8: “The LBA secretly hired lobbyists to push their application.”

FACTS: The LBA contacted a lobbying organization to evaluate the availability of newly available Federal funds for multiple potential Lake projects (e.g. dredging Sucker Brook, controlling polluting runoff sites, reducing phosphorus levels in the Lake etc.). The actual funds to pay for this service were provided by private donors, and were not taken from LBA membership dues. The lobbyists have no role in the Permit application process, nor were they asked for any assistance therein.

If you are interested in the facts regarding this discussion, feel free to contact any member of the LBA or LBPT Boards, or email us at LBPT@earthlink.net.