By EJ Conzola II

NYVT Media

LAKE GEORGE – The results of tests conducted in areas of Lake George where the Lake George Park Commission applied a chemical herbicide “complement and supplement” the results of tests conducted by the commission, the organization that unsuccessfully attempted to block the application announced Sept. 3.

The two groups are now committed to reforging a partnership that was damaged as they wrangled over the use of the herbicide ProcellaCOR, Lake George Association Marketing and Communications Director Nancy Hawley said in announcing the test results.

ProcellaCOR was tested to determine its effectiveness against the Eurasian watermilfoil, an invasive plant that can choke out native flora and fauna and form floating mats that impede recreational use of the water where it propagates.

The association and the park commission – which had long been allies in efforts to preserve and protect Lake George – had fallen out more than two years ago when the commission applied for permits to test the effectiveness of ProcellaCOR in Sheep Meadow Bay and Blairs Bay, both of which are technically in the Warren County Town of Hague but have shorelines along the Washington County towns of Dresden and Putnam, respectively. The association argued that ProcellaCOR had not undergone sufficient testing to determine its possible long-term effects, while the commission argued the chemical had been approved by multiple state and federal agencies and been used without problems in other lakes in the United States and overseas.

The dispute ended in late June when state Supreme Court Justice Robert Muller “very reluctantly” rejected a legal effort by the association and others to block use of the chemicals. ProcellaCOR was introduced into the bays the next day.

Both the commission and the association conducted tests of the water and lakebed in the two bays in the hours and days after the herbicide was applied. The commission released its results about a week after the application, determining that the chemical had performed as expected and had fallen to undetectable levels at the two sites within 24 hours of its application.

The association released its results Sept. 3, roughly two months later. Association officials said at the time the delay was in large part due to the use of a private laboratory, which could not analyze its results as quickly as the commission’s lab, which is affiliated with the company that manufactures ProcellaCOR.

“Analysis of the water samples by an independent laboratory at the University of Connecticut aligns with the Park Commission’s findings that the herbicide itself was below detectable levels within 24 hours,” the association acknowledged in its announcement.

However, the association also noted chemical byproducts known as degradants produced when that ProcellaCOR breaks down were detected in multiple sediment samples in both the area where the chemical was introduced and in the “diffusion zone” where the herbicide was expected to drift after its application. One of those degradants is an herbicide, and the association plans to continue its monitoring of the area to determine the effect on native plants.

“It’s something we want to keep our eyes on,” Hawley said

The association report also largely confirmed the park commission’s claims that ProcellaCOR had been effective against the milfoil. Its tests found that the milfoil had been eradicated in the Sheep Meadow Bay treatment area and largely destroyed in the Blairs Bay area, with only a small area along the northwest edge of the treatment area largely unaffected. The result was not surprising, as the Jefferson Project – a partnership between the association, IBM Research and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, as well as the association’s own science team – had predicted water movement in the lake might lessen the herbicide’s effectiveness in that area, the association’s announcement stated.

The testing conducted by the association and the park commission has created a package of “thorough science” that can guide not only future projects in Lake George but will be made available to other communities looking to deal with the invasive milfoil, Hawley said.

The resolution of the dispute between the two organizations will enable the groups – both of which say they have the best interests of Lake George as their core mission- to “put those 2½ years behind us” and become the “true partners” they should be, Hawley said.

“We’re ready to reunite,” she added.

Lake George Park Commission representatives referred all requests for comment to Hawley.